Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport File:BAA Heathrow logo.gif
Heathrow Airport radar tower
IATA: LHR ICAO: EGLL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	BAA
Location	London
Elevation AMSL	83 ft / 25 m
Coordinates	51°28′39″N 000°27′41″W
Website	www.heathrowairport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09L/27R 3,902 12,802 Grooved Asphalt 09R/27L 3,658 12,001 Grooved Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft Movements 477,048 Passengers 67,527,923
Statistics from the UK CAA

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL) is the principal airport for London. The United Kingdom's biggest airport, Heathrow is also Europe's busiest airport for passenger traffic, and handles more international passenger traffic than any other airport in the world. Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA, which is itself owned by an international consortium led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group, and is the primary hub of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways and a major hub for bmi.

Located 15 miles (24 km) west of Central London, England, Heathrow has two parallel main runways running east-west and four terminals. Terminal 5 is under construction and is scheduled to open on 27 March 2008. Construction of Heathrow East to replace Terminal 2 and The Queens Building is planned to start in 2008 and be completed by 2012, and Terminals 3 and 4 will be refurbished during this period. In November 2007 a consultation process began for the building of a new third runway.

Heathrow Airport has a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

Location

Heathrow is located 15 miles (24 km) west of Central London, England, 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.

Qantas Boeing 747-438 descending near London Heathrow Airport

Heathrow

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The location of Heathrow airport within Greater London

The location of the airport to the west of London, and the east-west orientation of its runways, means that airliners must take off or land directly over the city. Other leading European airports such as those at Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris were 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 so is prone to fog.

Heathrow is one of two international London airports to be located within the boundary of the Greater London Area, the other being London City Airport.

History

1930s and 1940s

Aviation at the location of what is now Heathrow Airport began during World War 1 when the site was used as a military airfield. By the 1930s the airfield, now known as the Great Western Aerodrome, was privately owned by Fairey Aviation 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 Ministry of Air to be developed as a Royal Air Force transfer base. Construction of runways began in 1944 on land that was originally acquired from the vicar of Harmondsworth. The new airport was named after the hamlet Heath Row which was demolished to make way for the airport, and 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 2 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 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 piston-engined planes, were short and angled to allow for all wind conditions.

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 control tower designed by Frederick Gibberd was opened, replacing the original RAF control tower.

Heathrow in the 1960s

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 and gardens on the roof of the terminal 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 here 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 be chauffeur-driven.

In the late 1960s a 160 acres (0.6 km²) 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 were also extended to their current lengths in order to accommodate the new large jets such as the Boeing 747.

In 1977, the London Underground was extended to Heathrow; connecting the airport with Central London in just under an hour via the Piccadilly Line. On 23 June 1998 the Heathrow Express train was inaugurated, providing a direct rail service to London's Paddington station via a specially constructed line between the airport and the Great Western Main Line.

Terminal 4 arrivals

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, away from the three older terminals, and 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 1987, the British government privatised the British Airports Authority (now known as "BAA Limited") which controls Heathrow as well as six other UK airports.

During the 1980s and 1990s, since privatisation BAA has at Heathrow has expanded the proportion of terminal space allocated to retailing activities and invested in the development of retail activity. This has included expanding terminal areas to provide more shops and restaurants, and routing passengers through shops to maximise their exposure to the retail offer.

2000s

At the end of 2005, in light of the heightened global security requirements, Eastchurch Road which formed part of the airports southern/eastern perimeter road was permanently closed. Eastchurch Road linked the southern perimeter road to what is termed the 'Magic roundabout" next to Hatton Cross, and meant that road traffic crossed the access pathway for aircraft accessing the British Airways maintenance facility. At the time of closure, approximately 40 aircraft movement per day were made across the road, facilitated by the use of crossing gates and traffic lights.

Accidents and Incidents

• On 3 March 1948 Sabena Douglas DC3 Dakota OO-AWH crashed in fog. Three crew and 19 of the 22 passengers died.
• On 31 October 1950 British European Airways Vickers Viking G-AHPN crashed at Heathrow after hitting the runway during a go-around, 3 crew and 25 passengers died.
• On 1 August 1956 XA897 an Avro Vulcan strategic bomber of the Royal Air Force crashed at Heathrow after an approach in bad weather. The Vulcan was the first to be delivered to the RAF and was returning from a demonstration flight to Australia and New Zealand. The pilot and co-pilot ejected and survived but the 4 other occupants were killed.
• On 27 October 1965 BEA Vickers Vanguard G-APEE flying from Edinburgh crashed on runway 28R while attempting to land in poor visibility. All 30 passengers and 6 crew on board died.
• On 8 April 1968 BOAC Boeing 707 G-ARWE, departing to Australia via Singapore, had an engine fire just after take-off. The engine fell from the wing into a nearby gravel pit in Staines, before the plane managed to perform an emergency landing with the wing on fire. The plane burnt out on the ground — five people, 4 passengers and a stewardess, died; 122 survived. Barbara Harrison, a flight attendant on board who helped with the evacuation, was posthumously awarded the George Cross.
• On 3 July 1968 G-AMAD an Airspeed Ambassador of BKS Air Transport dropped a wing during approach, causing the aircraft to contact the grass and swerve towards the terminal building. It hit two parked British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident aircraft, burst into flames and came to rest against the ground floor of the terminal building. Six of the eight crew died and eight horses onboard died.
• On 18 June 1972 British European Airways Flight 548, flying from London Heathrow to Brussels, crashed shortly after take off into a field near Staines. All 109 passengers and nine crew on the Hawker Siddeley Trident-1C G-ARPI were killed in what became known as the Staines air disaster.

Main article: British European Airways Flight 548

• On 17 January 2008 a British Airways Boeing 777-236ER (G-YMMM) operating flight number BA038 from Beijing to London crash-landed at Heathrow. The aircraft landed on grass short of the south runway, 27L, continued to the edge of the runway, and stopped on the threshold. BBC News pictures showed the undercarriage collapsed and the left wing visibly damaged. Heathrow's ambulances and fire engines attended. 18 minor injuries were confirmed with 13 people being admitted to hospital and the airport was closed for a short time. The cause of the crash is yet to be determined and is being investigated by the AAIB, but a preliminary report issued by the AAIB at 17:00 GMT on 18 January 2008 stated that the engines had failed to respond to the flight crew's input 2 miles (3.2 km) from touchdown and 600 feet (180 m) over the area surrounding Heathrow.

Terrorism and security incidents

• On 19 May 1974, the IRA planted a series of bombs in the Terminal 1 car park injuring 2 people.[1]
• On 26 November 1983 the Brinks Mat robbery occurred, when 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million were taken from the Brink's Mat vault near Heathrow. Only a fraction of the gold was ever recovered and only two men were convicted of the crime.
• On 17 April 1986 semtex explosives were found in the bag of a pregnant Irishwoman attempting to board an El Al flight. The explosives had been given to her by her Jordanian boyfriend and father of their unborn child Nizar Hindawi, and the incident became known as the Hindawi Affair.[2]
• In 1994, over a six day period, Heathrow was targeted three times (8 March, 10 March and 13 March) by the IRA, who fired twelve mortars. Heathrow was a symbolic target due to its importance to the UK economy and the disruption caused when areas of the airport were closed over the period. Coverage of the incident was heightened by the fact that the Queen was being flown back to Heathrow by the RAF on 10 March.

Concorde G-BOAB in storage at London Heathrow Airport following the end of all Concorde flying. This aircraft flew for 22,296 hours between first flight in 1976 and grounding in 2000. The control tower is in the background.

• In March 2002, thieves stole US $3 million that had arrived on a South African Airways flight.
• In February 2003, the British Army was deployed to Heathrow, with 1,000 extra police officers, due to intelligence reports that al-Qaeda terrorists might launch surface-to-air missile attacks at British or American airliners. [3]
• Scotland Yard's Flying Squad foiled an attempt by seven men to steal £40 million in gold bullion and a similar quantity of cash from the Swissport warehouse at Heathrow on 17 May 2004.
• On 10 August 2006, the airport became the focus of changes in security protocol following the revelation of a supposedly al-Qaeda based 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot. New rules were put in force immediately with lengthy delays and inconvenience to passengers. These included the prohibition of carry-on luggage (except essential items such as travel documents and medication) and all liquids - although this was later relaxed to allow medications, as well as baby milk - provided both were tasted first by the passenger at the security checkpoint.

Heathrow today

Heathrow is used by over 90 airlines which fly to 170 destinations worldwide (see Airlines and destinations below). The airport is the primary hub of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways and a major hub for bmi.

Of Heathrow's 67 million annual passengers, 11% travel to UK destinations, 43% are short-haul international travellers, and 46% are long-haul. The busiest single destination in terms of passenger numbers is New York, with over 3.4 million passengers travelling between Heathrow and JFK / Newark airports in 2006. The airport has four passenger terminals (Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4) and a cargo terminal. The fifth passenger terminal, Terminal 5 is expected to open on 27 March 2008, with construction of all satellite buildings completed in 2011.

The Heathrow Academy

Originally, Heathrow had six runways, arranged in three pairs at different angles, with the passenger terminal in the centre. With growth in the required length for runways, Heathrow now has just two parallel runways running east-west. Runway 23, a short runway for use in strong south-westerly winds, was recently decommissioned and now forms part of taxiway A. The Department for Transport has issued a 'consultation document' in which one option is the construction of a third parallel east-west runway for frequent use, involving the demolition of residential areas.

Pier 6 of Heathrow's Terminal 3 has been modified to accommodate the Airbus A380 jet; in addition, Terminal Five will be fully compatible with the A380 when it opens in March 2008. The first A380 test flight into Heathrow took place on 18 May 2006, but following delays to the aircraft's production, scheduled services are not now expected to start using the airport until 2008.

A new 87 metres (285 ft) high £50 million air traffic control tower entered service on 21 April 2007, and was officially opened on 13 June 2007 by Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander.

Departures area in Terminal 3

Heathrow Airport has Anglican, Catholic, Free Church, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Jewish Chaplains. There is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal, in addition to St. George's Interdenominational Chapel which is located in an underground bunker adjacent to the old Control Tower, where Christian services take place. The chaplains organise and lead prayers at certain times in the prayer room. There is an Anglican Service every Tuesday and Wednesday, daily Catholic Mass and Free Church prayers in the Chapel.

Heathrow's facilities were designed to accommodate 45 million passengers annually. With numbers now approaching 70 million and runway utilisation averaging 98%, it is difficult for existing airlines to obtain landing slots to enable them to increase their services from the airport, or for new airlines to start operations. For the same reason the airport has become crowded and subject to delays, for which it has been criticised in recent years and in 2007 the airport was voted the world's worst in a TripAdvisor survey.

Operations

A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-300 seen near Heathrow.

Aircraft destined for Heathrow usually enter its airspace via one of four main 'reporting points': Bovingdon (BNN) over Hertfordshire, Lambourne (LAM) over Essex, Biggin Hill (BIG) over Bromley and Ockham (OCK) over Surrey. Each is defined by a VOR radio-navigational beacon. When the airport is busy, aircraft will orbit in the associated holds. These reporting points/holds lie respectively to the north-west, north-east, south-east and south-west of the London conurbation.

Air traffic controllers at Heathrow Approach Control (now based in Swanwick, Hampshire) then guide the aircraft to their final approach, merging aircraft from the four holds into a single stream of traffic, sometimes as close as 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) apart. Considerable use is made of continuous descent approach techniques to minimise the environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night. Once an aircraft is established on its final approach, control is handed over to Heathrow Tower.

Because aircraft generate significantly more noise on departure than when landing, there is a preference for "westerly operations" during daytime operations. In this mode aircraft depart towards the west and approach from the east over London, thereby minimising the noise impact to the most densely populated areas. Heathrow's two runways generally operate in 'segregated mode' whereby arriving aircraft are allocated to one runway and departing aircraft to the other. To further reduce noise nuisance to people beneath the approach and departure routes, the use of runways 27R and 27L is swapped at 3 pm each day, when the wind is from the west. When easterly landings are in progress there is no alternation; 09L remains the landing runway and 09R the departure runway due to the Cranford protocol. Occasionally landings are allowed on the nominated departure runway, to help reduce airborne delays and to position landing aircraft closer to their terminal, thus reducing taxi times.

Night-time flights at Heathrow are subject to restrictions. Between 11.00 p.m. and 7.00 a.m. the noisiest aircraft (rated QC/8 and QC/16) cannot be scheduled to operate at all. In addition, between 11.30 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. (the night quota period) there are three limits:

• A limit on the number of flights allowed;
• A Quota Count system which limits the total amount of noise permitted, but allows operators to choose to operate fewer noisy aircraft or a greater number of quieter planes;
• A voluntary ban on QC/4 aircraft.

Security

Policing of the airport is the responsibility of the aviation security unit of the Metropolitan Police, however the army, including armoured vehicles of the Household Cavalry, has occasionally been deployed to the airport during periods of heightened security. Heathrow's reputation for thefts has led to it sometimes being referred to as 'Thiefrow'.

On 6 November 2006 new security measures came into effect for all passengers departing from UK airports: UK Department for Transport

Regulation

Further information: Landing slots

File:DSCF1934d submitted.jpg

British Airways aircraft at Terminal 4

As BAA owns London's three major airports and therefore has a monopolistic position, the amount it is allowed to charge airlines to land aeroplanes at Heathrow is heavily regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority. Until 1 April 2003, the annual increase of the cost of landing per passenger was capped at inflation minus 3%. This has meant that landing charges have been falling in absolute terms. The average landing cost per passenger in April 2003 was £6.13, similar to landing charges at Gatwick and Stansted. In order to reflect the fact that Heathrow, as an international hub, is more popular with passengers and airlines, the CAA agreed that BAA will be allowed to increase landing charges at Heathrow by inflation plus 6.5% per year for the next five years. When Terminal 5 opens in 2008, landing charges are expected to be £8.23 per passenger. Landing fee restrictions at Gatwick and Stansted will remain tighter.

American Airlines Boeing 777 landing at Heathrow

In addition, air traffic between Heathrow and the United States is strictly governed by the countries' bilateral Bermuda II treaty. The treaty originally allowed only British Airways, Pan Am, and TWA to fly from Heathrow to the US. In 1991 PAA and TWA sold their rights to United Airlines and American Airlines respectively, and Virgin Atlantic Airways was added to the list of airlines allowed to operate on these routes. In 2002, American Airlines and British Airways announced plans to coordinate the scheduling of their trans-Atlantic routes but plans were dropped after the United States Department of Transportation made approval conditional on the granting of further access slots to Heathrow to other US airlines. AA and BA considered the slots too valuable and dropped the plans. The Bermuda bilateral agreement conflicts with the Right of Establishment of the United Kingdom in terms of its membership in the EU, and as a consequence the UK was ordered to drop the agreement in 2004. A new "open skies" agreement was signed by the United States and the European Union on 30 April 2007, and will come into effect on 30 March 2008.

Whilst the cost of landing at Heathrow is determined by the CAA and BAA, the allocation of landing slots to airlines is carried out by Airport Co-ordination Limited (ACL).

Busiest airport claims

Queue of aircraft for take-off including jets from Virgin Atlantic Airways, British Airways, Air India, and bmi

The operator of Heathrow, BAA, claims that Heathrow is the "world's busiest international airport", but Heathrow is only the world's third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic, after Atlanta-Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago-O'Hare in the United States, which are both also international airports. However, Heathrow has the highest number of international passengers.

In 2006 Heathrow was the busiest airport in Europe in terms of total passenger traffic (18.8% more passengers than at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and 27.9% more than at Frankfurt International Airport), but it was third behind Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt in terms of plane movements (11.9% fewer landings and take offs than at Charles de Gaulle, and 2.5% fewer than at Frankfurt). Heathrow airport was fourth in terms of cargo traffic (36.9% less cargo than at Charles de Gaulle, 36.8% less than at Frankfurt, and 14.2% less than at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport).

With only two runways operating at over 98% of their capacity, Heathrow has little room for growth. In order to increase traffic, BAA has proposed using the existing two runways in 'mixed mode' whereby aircraft would be allowed to take-off and land on the same runway. This would increase the airport's capacity from its current 480,000 movements per year to as many as 550,000 according to British Airways CEO Willie Walsh. BAA has also proposed to build a third runway to the north of the airport, which would significantly increase traffic capacity (see Third Runway and Terminal 6 below).

In the short term the opening of Terminal 5 in 2008 will relieve pressure on terminal facilities, allowing modest growth from the use of larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380. However with passenger traffic at Charles de Gaulle growing by 5.8% to 59.3 million during the 12 months to September 2007, compared with Heathrow's fall of 0.4% to 67.6 million during the same period, it is likely that CDG ---- with its four runways operating at only 73.5% capacity ---- will overtake Heathrow by 2010.

Access

Public transport

Heathrow Express train at Paddington station

Heathrow area rail services
mi-ch from Paddington Elizabeth line via Whitechapel 0-00 Paddington Heathrow Express Elizabeth line Old Oak Common under construction 4-21 Acton Main Line 5-56 Ealing Broadway 6-46 West Ealing 7-28 Hanwell 9-06 Southall 10-71 Hayes & Harlington Piccadilly line to Cockfosters 11-10 Airport Junction Great Western Main Line to Reading Hatton Cross Heathrow Junction closed 1998 Heathrow Airport: Terminal 4 16-30 Terminal 4 Terminals 2 & 3 14-40 Terminals 2 & 3 16-20 Terminal 5

• Heathrow Express: a non-stop service directly to London's Paddington station; trains leave every 15 minutes for the 15-minute journey. The Heathrow Express is also used for transferring people between the central area of Heathrow (Terminals 1, 2 and 3) and Terminal 4 which has its own station; use of this section is free of charge.

• Heathrow Connect service to Paddington calling at up to five National Rail stations en route; as of December 2006 trains leave every 30 minutes for the 25-minute journey. The Heathrow Connect train terminates at Heathrow Central for Terminals 1, 2 and 3, with free transfer via the Heathrow Express for Terminal 4.

• London Underground Piccadilly Line with three stations (Terminals 1-3, Terminal 4 and Hatton Cross) and a further station opening in March 2008 (Terminal 5). As of 2007, the standard journey time from the Terminals 1-3 station to central London is 40-50 minutes (for example, 48 minutes to Piccadilly Circus).

For the above three services, the faster the journey, the more expensive it is.

• Long-distance coach services operated by National Express to various parts of the UK, including Victoria Coach Station in London.

• A door-to-door London hotel shuttle bus service is operated by dot2dot from each terminal, and HotelHoppa buses connect each terminal with hotels in the Heathrow area.

• There are four RailAir coach services connecting nearby railway stations with the airport using dedicated non-stop coaches. These run to:
  • Reading railway station, connecting with railway services to the West Country, South Wales, Midlands and south coast of England
  • Feltham railway station, for destinations on the South West Trains network in south-West London, Surrey and Berkshire, including Windsor (this has now been discontinued and replaced by the 285 bus service, as advertised on South West Trains)
  • Woking railway station, for places in Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire
  • Watford Junction railway station, for Virgin Trains and London Midland services to Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, the Midlands, north-west England and Scotland

• Heathrow Airport has one of the United Kingdom's biggest bus stations, with many local bus services (Transport for London) to nearby London suburbs.

Car

Boeing 777 crossing a perimeter road. This road has now been re-routed to avoid the aircraft crossing.

Heathrow is accessible via the nearby M4 motorway and A4 road (Terminals 1–3), the M25 motorway (Terminals 4 and 5), and the A30 road (Terminal 4). There are drop off and pick up areas at all terminals and short and long stay multi-storey car parks. Additionally, there are car parks (not run by BAA) just outside the airport, these are connected to the terminals by shuttle buses. Heathrow airport is also served by taxi services.

Four parallel tunnels under one of the runways connect the M4 motorway and the A4 road to Terminals 1–3. The two larger tunnels are each 2 lanes wide and are used for motorised traffic. The two smaller tunnels were originally reserved for pedestrians and bicycles; to increase traffic capacity the cycle lanes have been modified to each take a single lane of cars, although bicycles still have priority over cars. Pedestrian access to the smaller tunnels has been discontinued, with the free bus services being the alternative.

Bicycle

There are (mainly off-road) bicycle routes almost to the terminals. Free bicycle parking places are available in car parks 1 and 1A, though use of the left-luggage services may be more secure. Free specialist maps showing cycle routes are published by Transport for London - 'London Cycling Guide 6' covers Terminals 1, 2 & 3 while 'London Cycling Guide 9' covers Terminal 4 (as of the June 2007 revision).

One coach on each Heathrow Connect train has an area reserved for wheelchairs and bicycles (wheelchairs have priority). Heathrow Express trains have space for 3 bicycles. There are rush-hour restrictions: unfolded bicycles are not allowed on trains due to arrive at Paddington between 07:45 and 09:45, or departing between 16:30 and 18:30, Monday to Friday.

If luggage and conditions permit, it is very much cheaper (about one third the price) to travel by train between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington and then cycle the remaining two miles (3 km).

Future of Heathrow

Terminal 5

The possibility of a fifth terminal at Heathrow emerged as early as 1982, when there was debate over whether the expansion of Stansted or the expansion of Heathrow (advocated by BA) was the way forward for the UK aviation industry. Richard Rogers was selected to design the terminal in 1989 and BAA formally announced its proposal for T5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993. A public inquiry into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending after 525 days on 17 March 1999. Finally on 20 November 2001, more than eight years after the initial planning application, then-transport minister Stephen Byers announced the British government's decision to grant planning permission for the building of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow.

Terminal 5 under construction in July 2006.

The new terminal is being constructed on the western side of the airport, between the northern and southern runways. In addition to the main terminal building, Terminal 5 also has two satellite buildings linked to the main terminal by an underground people mover. The first satellite, Concourse B, will include dedicated aircraft stands for the new Airbus A380; Concourse C, will not open until 2010. In total T5 will have 60 aircraft stands, and be connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel. It will cater for 30 million passengers, and £4bn will have been spent and 20,000 people will have worked on the project. It will enable Heathrow to handle up to 90 million passengers a year, up from its current figure of 68 million (compared with a design capacity of 45 million). In 2005, T5 was the largest construction project in Europe — expenditure peaked at £12m per week. None of the cost comes from the taxpayer.

File:Heathrow Terminals.png

Heathrow's layout by early 2008.

The terminal buildings have been designed by Richard Rogers Partnership and the lead project architects are Pascall and Watson, who specialise in airports and transport facilities. The four storeys of the main terminal building (Concourse A) are covered by a single-span undulating steel frame roof, stretching 90 metres (295 ft) from east to west. Departing passengers will enter Departures level (on the 3rd floor) after taking one of the lifts or escalators from the interchange plaza. Upon entering the Departures concourse, passengers will see views across the Heathrow area and be in a space that is unobstructed to the rising roof above. After check-in and ticket presentation, the airside lounges will provide views across the tarmac and the runways beyond. There will be an abundance of retail outlets.

The transport network around Heathrow is being extended to cope with an increased number of passengers. A motorway spur has been built from the M25 between junctions 14 and 15 to the new terminal which includes a 4,000 space multi-storey car park. A more distant long-stay car park for business passengers will be linked to the terminal by a personal rapid transit system which will open in 2009. New branches of both the Heathrow Express and the Underground's Piccadilly Line will serve a new shared Heathrow Terminal 5 station, which will also have space for a third pair of tracks for future additional services. There are plans to build a rail link, called AirTrack from Staines to Terminal 5, which would allow direct services to the airport from Reading, Guildford and London Waterloo.

When T5 opens on 27 March 2008 it will be used exclusively by British Airways which will transfer its entire operation from Terminals 1 and 4 except for flights to/from Australia, Italy, and Spain. It has been announced that the first flight to use the terminal will be a British Airways flight 26 from Hong Kong. Flight 302 to Paris will be the first flight departure from Terminal 5 at 06:20 GMT.

Redevelopment of Terminals 3 and 4

Terminal 3 has a large centralised waiting/shopping area

In line with the transformation of the rest of Heathrow, BAA have announced that Terminals 3 and 4 will also be redeveloped and modernised over the next few years. Redevelopment of Terminal 3's forecourt by the addition of a new four lane drop-off area and a large pedestrianised plaza, complete with canopy to the front of the terminal building was completed in 2007; these improvements were intended to improve passengers' experiences, reduce traffic congestion and improve security. BAA also have plans for a £1bn upgrade of the rest of the terminal over the next ten years.

Terminal 4 will also benefit from a major upgrade to its existing facilities once Terminal 5 has opened. BAA have stated that the building is in need of extensive refurbishment, as the terminal has now been in operation since 1986. As part of the redevelopment of Terminal 4, the amount of natural light entering the building will be assessed and the check-in facilities and the departure lounge will also be upgraded.

Heathrow East Terminal

Heathrow's layout after the completion of Heathrow East

BAA announced in November 2005 that when Terminal 5 opens Terminal 2 will be closed to allow the Heathrow East scheme to be built. This will see Terminal 2 and the Queen's Building offices being replaced by a new terminal capable of handling 30 million people, five million fewer than Terminals 1 and 2 are currently used by, although considerably more than the design capacity of the existing buildings. Work is planned to start in 2008 and to be completed by 2012, in time for the London Olympics. The plan envisages the complete realignment of piers more logically, and to provide for an increase in capacity, in a site taking up roughly the same amount of space as T5. The entire project is set to cost £1-1.5bn. Planning permission was granted in May 2007 on the condition that the project meets a number of 'green' targets. Rafael del Pino, head of BAA owner Ferrovial, says that Heathrow East will only be built if BAA is allowed to increase Heathrow's landing charges.

Third Runway and Terminal 6

The major airlines at Heathrow, in particular British Airways, have long advocated construction of a new third runway at Heathrow. A sixth terminal would be likely to accompany the new runway, and the airport's capacity would be increased to 115 million passengers per year. On 16 December 2003 Transport Secretary Alistair Darling released a white paper on the future of air transport in the UK. A key proposal of the paper was that a new 2000 metre runway suitable for use only by short-haul aircraft would be built at Heathrow by 2020. provided that targets on environmental issues such as aircraft noise, traffic congestion and pollution could be met.

In December 2006 the DFT published a progress report on the strategy which confirmed the original vision, and in November 2007 the government started a public consulation on proposals for a longer 2,500 metres (2,734 yd) third runway. However proposed flight paths show integration from runway 3 into longhaul west bound routings suggesting that the desired length will eventually be similar to that of the existing runways The consultation process includes proposals to remove the existing runway alternation for landings, and also to allow departures from both runways over London (previously banned under the Cranford Agreement) when wind direction permits. If approved, the new runway would open around 2020.

Opposition to the expansion of Heathrow

The continued expansion of Heathrow Airport is opposed by environmental campaigners who are concerned about increases of CO2 emissions, by Londoners concerned about noise and local residents concerned about their local communities.

Locally some 700 homes, a church and eight grade II listed buildings would have to be demolished or abandoned, the high street in Harmondsworth split, a graveyard "bulldozed" and the "entire village of Sipson could disappear". John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington has suggested that up to 4,000 houses would actually have to be demolished or abandoned, however aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick defended the plans, saying anyone evicted from their home as a result of expansion would be fully compensated and BAA have committed to preserving the Grade 1 listed church and tithe barn at Harmondsworth, and have assured protection of the value of properties blighted by a possible third runway.

The government has been criticised for working too closely with BAA in designing tests to determine whether noise and air pollution caused by the proposed runway would exceed designated limits. However the Department for Transport defended the co-operation, stating that "it wouldn’t be sensible or indeed possible to do the work without the expertise of the airport operator."

The World Development Movement has claimed that the proposed additional flights from Heathrow’s third runway would emit same amount of CO2 per year as the whole of Kenya. Ruth Kelly, Transport Secretary, has stated that carbon emissions will not actually rise overall in the environment since carbon trading will be used to ensure that these increases from Heathrow are offset by reductions elsewhere in the economy. However Friends of the Earth claim that "Plans to bring aviation into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will barely affect the rapid growth in aviation’s carbon emissions".

A protest camp, the Camp for Climate Action, in August 2007 attracted some 2000 protesters took place close to the airport and attracted considerable media attention. Prior to the camp's start, BAA had attempted to get court approval for an injunction to limit their right to protest which became known as the "Mother of all Injunctions". BAA said the injunction was intended to protect the security of staff and passengers and that "flights and passengers were unaffected by the camp".

In response to campaigning and proposed new legislation that would restrict aviation growth, BAA and others launched Flying Matters "to represent the travel industry over climate change".

Proposals to replace Heathrow by a new airport located in the Thames Estuary are now being discussed (first proposed in the 1970s). Total costs are estimated at two billion pounds less than the construction of a third runway and flights would no longer arrive or depart over highly populated areas. The area proposed is in the path of migratory bird routes which it has been suggested may pose safety issues as well as the destruction of natural habitats

Airlines and destinations

Current locations

Terminal 1

• Aer Lingus (Belfast-International, Cork, Dublin)
• Asiana Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)
• bmi (Aberdeen, Addis Ababa, Aleppo, Almaty, Amman, Amsterdam, Ankara, Baku, Beirut, Belfast-City, Bishkek, Brussels, Cairo, Dakar, Damascus, Dammam [begins early 2008], Dublin, Durham Tees Valley, Edinburgh, Ekaterinburg, Freetown, Glasgow-International, Hanover, Inverness [ends 29 March], Jeddah, Jersey, Khartoum, Leeds-Bradford, Lyon, Manchester, Moscow-Domodedovo, Naples [seasonal], Nice [ends 1 May], Palma de Mallorca, Riyadh, Tbilisi, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Tel Aviv [begins 13 March], Venice, Yerevan)
• British Airways (Aberdeen, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Bucharest-Otopeni, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow-International, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul-Atatürk, Johannesburg, Kiev-Boryspil, Larnaca, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Madrid, Manchester, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich, Newcastle, Nice, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Sofia, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Tripoli, Tokyo-Narita, Vancouver, Warsaw [ends 26 March])
  • British Airways operated by GB Airways (Casablanca, Fez, Málaga, Marrakesh) [end 29 March]
• Cyprus Airways (Larnaca, Paphos)
• El Al Israel Airlines (Ovda [seasonal], Tel Aviv)
• Finnair (Helsinki)
• Icelandair (Reykjavik-Keflavik)
• LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw)
• South African Airways (Cape Town, Johannesburg)
• Transaero (Moscow-Domodedovo)
• US Airways (Philadelphia) [begins 29 March]

Terminal 2

• Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
• Air Algérie (Algiers)
• Air Astana (Almaty)
• Air France (Los Angeles [begins 31 March], Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
• Air Seychelles (Seychelles)
• Air Transat (Toronto-Pearson)
• Alitalia (Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa [ends 30 March], Rome-Fiumicino)
  • Alitalia Express (Milan-Linate)
• Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
  • Tyrolean (Vienna)
• Azerbaijan Airlines (Baku)
• Bellview Airlines (Lagos)
• Bestair (Antalya)
• China Eastern Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
• Clickair (La Coruña, Valencia)
• Croatia Airlines (Rijeka, Split, Zagreb)
• Czech Airlines (Prague)
• Bulgaria Air (Sofia)
  • operated by Hemus Air (Sofia)
• Iberia Airlines (Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid)
• Iran Air (Tehran-Imam Khomeini)
• Jat Airways (Belgrade)
• Libyan Airlines (Tripoli)
• Lufthansa (Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart)
• Luxair (Luxembourg)
• Nouvelair (Monastir)
• Olympic Airlines (Athens)
• Rossiya (St. Petersburg, Moscow-Vnukovo)
• Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca, Marrakesh, Tangier)
• Sudan Airways (Khartoum)
• Swiss International Air Lines (Zürich)
• Syrian Arab Airlines (Damascus)
• TAP Portugal (Faro, Funchal, Lisbon, Porto)
• TAROM (Bucharest-Otopeni)
• Tunisair (Tunis)
• Uzbekistan Airways (Tashkent)
• Varig (São Paulo-Guarulhos) [ends 1st March]
• Yemenia (Sana'a)

Terminal 3

Aircraft at Terminal 3

• Air Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver)
• Air China (Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong)
• Air India (Ahmedabad [Seasonal], Amritsar [Seasonal], Chennai, Chicago-O'Hare, Delhi, Kolkata, Dhaka, Mumbai, New York-JFK)
• Air Mauritius (Port Louis)
• Air New Zealand (Auckland, Hong Kong, Los Angeles)
• All Nippon Airways (Tokyo-Narita)
• American Airlines (Boston, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth [begins 30 March], Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, Raleigh/Durham [begins 30 March])
• Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Dhaka, Dubai)
• Blue1 (Helsinki) [begins 30 March]
• British Airways (Miami)
• Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
• Cyprus Turkish Airlines (Izmir, Lefkosa)
• EgyptAir (Cairo, Luxor)
• Emirates (Dubai)
• Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa, Rome-Fiumicino)
• Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
• EVA Air (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
• Gulf Air (Bahrain)
• Japan Airlines (Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Narita)
• Jet Airways (Amritsar, Delhi, Mumbai)
• Korean Air (Seoul-Incheon)
• Kuwait Airways (Kuwait, New York-JFK)
• Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
• Middle East Airlines (Beirut)
• Pakistan International Airlines (Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore)
• Qatar Airways (Doha)
• Royal Brunei Airlines (Bandar Seri Begawan, Dubai)
• Royal Jordanian (Amman)
• Saudi Arabian Airlines (Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah [seasonal], Riyadh)
• Scandinavian Airlines (Copenhagen, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Oslo, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Thai Airways International (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi)
• Turkish Airlines (Antalya, Istanbul-Atatürk, Izmir)
• Turkmenistan Airlines (Ashgabat)
• United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Denver [begins 30 March], Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington-Dulles)
• Virgin Atlantic Airways (Barbados [ends 17 March], Boston, Cape Town, Chicago-O'Hare, Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Lagos, Los Angeles, Miami, Mumbai, Nairobi, New York-JFK, Newark, Port Louis, San Francisco, Shanghai-Pudong, Sydney, Tokyo-Narita, Washington-Dulles)

Terminal 4

• Air Malta (Luqa)
• British Airways (Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Accra, Algiers [begins 30 March], Amsterdam, Bahrain, Baltimore/Washington, Bangalore, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Basel/Mulhouse, Beijing, Belgrade, Boston, Brussels, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cairo, Calgary, Cape Town, Chennai, Chicago-O'Hare, Copenhagen, Dallas/Fort Worth [begins 30 March], Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Denver, Detroit [ends 29 March], Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Entebbe, Geneva, Grand Cayman, Houston-Intercontinental, Hyderabad [begins 27 October], Islamabad, Kolkata, Kuwait, Lagos, Luanda, Lusaka, Lyon, Malaga [begins 30 March], Mexico City, Montréal, Mumbai, Muscat, Nairobi, Nassau, New York-JFK, Newark, Oslo, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Port Louis, Providenciales, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seattle/Tacoma, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto-Pearson, Vienna, Washington-Dulles, Zürich)
• China Southern Airlines (Beijing) [begins March 2009]
• Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark) [begin 29 March]
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, New York-JFK) [begin 26 October]
• Kenya Airways (Nairobi)
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam)
  • KLM Cityhopper (Eindhoven [ends 29 March], Rotterdam)
• Northwest Airlines (Detroit [begins 2 May], Minneapolis/St. Paul [begins 30 March], Seattle/Tacoma [begins 2 June])
• Qantas (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney)
• Sri Lankan Airlines (Colombo, Malé)
• TAM Airlines (São Paulo-Guarulhos)

BA planes at Terminal 4

From March 2008

When Terminal 5 opens in 2008, the allocation of airlines to terminals at Heathrow with undergo major changes. The new arrangements will largely be based around which alliance each airline belongs to. The transfer will be completed over a period of 10 months starting from March 2008.

The majority of British Airways shorthaul flights from T1 and T4 move to T5 when it opens at the end of March 2008, along with all current T3 and T1 longhaul services - BA routes operating Boeing 757 aircraft will remain at Terminal 1 until the refurbishment of Terminal 3 is complete. Star Alliance members will then move into Terminal 1. Oneworld, Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic will move all flights to Terminal 3, whilst BA's longhaul flights in Terminal 4, with the exception of some routes to Australia, will move to T5 at the second flight-switch at the end of April 2008, but will eventually move into T3 with Qantas. All BA shorthaul Boeing 757 flights will operate from Terminal 3.

SkyTeam alliance members as well as non-aligned airlines will move to Terminal 4.

Eventually, all British Airways flights will be split across Terminal 5 and Terminal 3

Finally, when Terminal 5's satellite pier 3 (T5C) is completed in 2010, all British Airways flights will operate from Terminal 5.

External links

• Heathrow Airport official website
• Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee
• 2M group - a coalition of 12 local boroughs representing 2 million residents affected by expansion plans
• The building of Heathrow Video at the Internet Archive