Operations at London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, are set to be transformed over the next four days.

In a first step the £4.3bn ($8.6bn) Terminal 5 opens its doors to the public on Thursday, adding capacity to deal with 30m passengers a year in a state-of-the-art building developed by BAA, the Heathrow operator, and designed by Richard Rogers to be a showpiece gateway to the UK.