LONDON, ENGLAND - BRITISH Airways is launching an advertising campaign to try to rescue the reputation of Terminal 5, its new home at Heathrow Airport, which opened to chaotic scenes of lost baggage and cancelled flights in March.

'We will start an ad campaign based on the truth of T5,' Chief Executive Willie Walsh told shareholders at the group's AGM on Tuesday. 'We will get the message across that T5 is working and it's working well.'

Mr Walsh said the performance of the terminal had 'very significantly improved', and he was receiving letters and e-mail on a daily basis praising the 4.3 billion pound (S$11.6 billion) facility.

A union leader told a parliamentary committee last week an average of 932 bags a day were still not connecting with passengers transferring at Terminal Five. -- REUTERS