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The first passengers arriving at Heathrow's £2.5billion Terminal 2 have praised the airport for its smooth operation and the design of the building.

Passengers touched down at 5.49am on a United flight from Chicago, one of just 34 flights scheduled for today as part of the phased opening of the terminal.

Airport chiefs are anxious not to repeat the chaos of the Terminal 5 opening in March 2008, when thousands of bags went missing, more than 100 flights were cancelled and passengers were stranded at the airport overnight.

Good start: Passengers arrive at the new Terminal 2, which has been named the Queen's Terminal

Warm welcome: One of the first passengers to arrive at Heathrow's Terminal 2, Mohan Rao, is greeted by staff dressed as a Yeoman Warder and Beefeater

In contrast, just 10 per cent of capacity is being operated at T2 today and it will be some months before the 25 other airlines will join United at the new building.

One of the first staff at the new terminal today was flower-stall operator Mariana Irigui, 40, from Ealing, west London.

She said: 'The new terminal is beautiful. It's bright and airy.'

Also early on the scene at a rainy Heathrow was the airport's development director John Holland Kaye.

He said: 'I've been too excited to sleep. We've already received the first departure passenger who was here at midnight even though their flight to Los Angeles was not until late morning.'

Softly, softly: The airport is operating at just 10 per cent capacity today in a bid to avoid teething problems

Praise: Passengers and workers have so far been pleased with the new design of the 'light and airy' terminal

Arriving passengers from Chicago praised the airport for its speedy immigration, while departing Britons said they agreed with the idea to open T2 in stages.

The sleek new terminal boasts 60 check-in gates and 66 self-check-in kiosks, 29 security lanes, 33 shops, 17 restaurants, more than 7,000 seats, 634 toilets and 42 water fountains.

And in a bid to iron out any problems, more than 180 trials for T2 have taken place over the last six months involving 14,000 volunteers.

The T5 chaos was marked by problems with the baggage system, with departing passengers unable to check-in hold baggage, leading to flight cancellations, and arriving passengers having to wait up to two-and-a-half hours for their suitcases.

In contrast, as many as 100,000 bags have already passed through the T2 baggage system, with peak loads tested at 4,000 bags per hour - much more than the expected peak of 2,500 bags the terminal will likely be handling.

Heathrow confirmed it had sought advice from other airports around the world and learnt lessons from opening Terminal 5.

Every person working at T2 has been required to participate in familiarisation and training sessions with more than 1,700 sessions taking place.

T2 is officially named Terminal 2 The Queen's Terminal. After today's operational opening, the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will officially open T2 on June 23.

One of the first passengers off the first flight from Chicago was physician Alan Yong, 40, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, who had been attending a conference in Chicago.

He said: 'I use Heathrow a lot. This looks like a nice new facility.'

Also seeing T2 for the first time, having flown in on the Chicago flight, was orthopaedic surgeon Dr Stuart Weinstein, 67, from Iowa City, Iowa.

Touching down: The first flight to arrive was from Chicago, one of 34 United flights scheduled at T2 today

Asked if a new terminal would be a boost to Heathrow, Dr Weinstein replied: 'Gosh, yes.

'That was the quickest I've ever got through immigration at Heathrow. It's been a very smooth operation.'

Steve Elmore, 47, from Chicago, who works in the pharmaceutical industry on drug research, said he had no idea that it was the first day of the new terminal until shortly arriving at the west London airport.

He said: 'We saw these guys dressed in Beefeater costumes as we got off the plane. It was a fantastic reception.

Fellow traveller Gerard Fox, 46, a businessman from Chicago, said: 'It's an historic occasion.'

In the departure lounge awaiting a flight to Houston in Texas, John Hastwell and his wife, Rowan, seemed impressed.

Mr Hastwell, from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, said: 'The new terminal looks excellent. I think it's been a very good idea to open it in stages. It's not crowded and there are plenty of staff around to assist you.'

Irish student Lee Conneely, 20, from Wexford, was more circumspect. 'There's not a huge flow of passengers yet, so the test for the terminal will come when it gets busier after a few weeks,' he said.

Flying off for a summer in San Francisco, Mr Conneely continued: 'I like the new terminal. It's beautiful. It was only when I arrived that I realised this was the opening day.'

There were 178 passengers and 11 crew on the Boeing 767 which flew in from Chicago.

United Airline's chiefs, including UK and Ireland sales director Bob Schumacher, greeted passengers.

Mr Schumacher said: 'We're extremely proud to be the first airline to operate from T2. Heathrow is one of the most important airports in United's global network, and T2 represents a huge improvement in the service and facilities we are able to provide to all our customers.'