London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow (IATA: LHR , ICAO: EGLL ), located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. It is the world's second busiest airport in total passenger traffic and the United Kingdom's largest and busiest airport. It is also the busiest in the European Union in terms of passenger traffic and the second busiest in terms of traffic movements. Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA, which also owns and operates six other UK airports; BAA is owned by an international consortium led by Spain's Ferrovial Group. Heathrow is the primary hub of British Airways, BMI and Virgin Atlantic.
Located 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) west of Central London, Heathrow originally was designed to have six runways in three pairs but now has just two parallel main runways running east-west and five terminals. The site covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). Terminal 5 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008 and opened to passengers on 27 March 2008. Construction of a new Terminal 2 complex to replace the current terminal building and adjacent Queen's Building began in 2009; the first phase is expected to be completed in 2013. Terminals 3 and 4 will also be refurbished during this period. In November 2007 a consultation process began for the building of a new third runway and was controversially approved on 15 January 2009 by UK Government ministers.
Heathrow Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
Location
Heathrow The location of Heathrow Airport within Greater LondonHeathrow is located 12 NM (22 km; 14 mi) west of central London, near the southern end of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The airport stands on a parcel of land that was designated part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt. To the north, the airport is surrounded by the built-up areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford.
To the east are Hounslow and Hatton, and to the south are East Bedfont and Stanwell. To the west, the M25 motorway separates the airport from Colnbrook in Berkshire.
The airport's location to the west of London, and the east-west orientation of its runways, means that airliners usually approach to land directly over the city. Other leading European airports, such as those at Madrid, Frankfurt and Paris, are located north or south of their cities, to minimise the overflying problem. Another disadvantage of the site is that it is low-lying, at 83 feet (25 m) above sea level, and can be prone to fog.
Heathrow is one of six airports serving the London area, along with Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Southend and City although only Heathrow and City Airports are located within Greater London.
History
1930s and 1940s
Aviation at the location of what is now Heathrow Airport began during World War I, when the site was used as a military airfield. By the 1930s the airfield, then known as the Great Western Aerodrome, was privately owned by Fairey Aviation Company, and was used for aircraft assembly and testing. Commercial traffic used Croydon Airport, which was London's main airport at the time.
In 1943, Heathrow came under the control of the Air Ministry, to be developed as a Royal Air Force transfer station. Construction of runways began in 1944, on land that was originally acquired from the vicar of Harmondsworth. The new airport was built by Wimpey Construction, and was named after the hamlet of Heathrow, little more than a row of isolated cottages on Hounslow Heath frequented by highwaymen; which was demolished to make way for the airport, and which was located approximately where Terminal 3 now stands.
The Royal Air Force never made use of the airport, and following the end of World War II control was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1 January 1946. The first civil flight that day was to Buenos Aires, via Lisbon for refuelling. The official opening ceremony was performed on 25 March 1946 by Lord Winster, the Minister of Aviation. On 16 April a Panair Lockheed L-049 Constellation landed after a flight from Rio de Janeiro, the first aircraft of a foreign airline to land at Heathrow. The first BOAC scheduled flight departed for Australia on 28 May. This route was operated as a joint route with Qantas.
The airport opened fully for civilian use on 31 May 1946, and by 1947 Heathrow had three runways, with three more under construction. These older runways, built for the piston-engined planes of that era, were each slightly longer than a mile in length, arranged in a 6-point star pattern to allow for all wind conditions. The temporary "prefab" passenger and cargo buildings were located at the northeast edge of the airport, just south of Bath Road.
1950s and 1960s
In 1953, the first slab of the first modern runway was ceremonially placed by Queen Elizabeth II. She also opened the first permanent terminal building, the Europa Building (now known as Terminal 2), in 1955. On 1 April 1955, a new 38.8-metre (127 ft) control tower designed by Frederick Gibberd was opened, replacing the original RAF control tower.
The Oceanic Terminal (renamed as Terminal 3 in 1968) opened on 13 November 1961, to handle flight departures for long-haul routes. At this time the airport had a direct helicopter service from central London; there were also public viewing facilities and gardens on the roof of the Europa Building By the time Terminal 1 was opened in 1968, completing the cluster of buildings at the centre of the airport site, Heathrow was handling 14 million passengers annually.
The location of the original terminals in the centre of the site has since become a constraint to expansion. The decision to locate them there reflected an early assumption that airline passengers would not require extensive car parking, as air travel was then only affordable to the wealthy, who would often be chauffeur-driven.
In the late 1960s a 160 acres (0.65 km 2 ) cargo terminal was built to the south of the southern runway, connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by a tunnel.
1970s to 1990s
In 1970, Terminal 3 was expanded with the addition of an arrivals building. Other facilities were also added, including the UK's first moving walkways. Heathrow's two main runways, 09L-27R and 09R-27L, were also extended to their current lengths in order to accommodate new large jets such as the Boeing 747. The other runways were closed to facilitate terminal expansions – except for Runway 23, which was preserved for crosswind landings until 2002.
In 1977, the London Underground Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow; connecting the airport with Central London in just under an hour. On 23 June 1998 Heathrow Express started operating, providing a direct rail service to London's Paddington station, via a specially-constructed line between the airport and the Great Western Main Line.
Continued growth in passenger numbers to 30 million annually by the early 1980s led to the need for more terminal space. Terminal 4 was constructed to the south of the southern runway, next to the existing cargo terminal, and away from the three older terminals. It was connected with Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the already-existing Heathrow Cargo Tunnel. Terminal 4 was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in April 1986, and became the home for then newly privatised British Airways.
In August 1982, the "Airport Spur" section of the M4 was opened to give the airport a direct link with the motorway and provide motorway access to airport users from as far away as the West Country and South Wales. Four years later, the M25 was completed as the London Orbital Motorway giving a direct motorway link to much of the rest of the country.
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