London Heathrow Airport
200px
Heathrow Terminal 5 building
IATA: LHR – ICAO: EGLL – WMO: 03772
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		BAA Limited
Operator		Heathrow Airport Limited
Location		Hillingdon, London, United Kingdom
Hub for		British Airways
Elevation AMSL		83 ft / 25 m
Coordinates		51°28′39″N 000°27′41″W / 51.4775°N 0.46139°W / 51.4775; -0.46139Coordinates: 51°28′39″N 000°27′41″W / 51.4775°N 0.46139°W / 51.4775; -0.46139
Website		www.heathrowairport.com
Map
EGLL Location within Greater London
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
09L/27R	3,901	12,799	Grooved Asphalt
09R/27L	3,660	12,008	Grooved asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Passengers			69,433,230
Passenger change 10-11			5.4%
Aircraft movements			480,906
Movements change 10-11			5.7%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS and EUROCONTROL[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL) is a major airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. Located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in West London, Heathrow is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world (as of 2011) in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe.^[3] It is also the busiest airport in the EU by passenger traffic and the third busiest in Europe given the number of traffic movements, with a figure surpassed only by Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport and Frankfurt Airport.^[4] Heathrow is London's main airport, having replaced RAF Northolt, and together with Gatwick, Southend, Stansted, Luton and London City, London is the busiest city airport system in the world by passenger traffic (with 133,666,888 passengers travelling through the five airports); and second only to New York City in terms of traffic movements. The airport sustains 76,600 jobs directly and around 116,000 indirectly in the immediate area,^[5] and this, together with the large number of global corporations with offices close to the airport, makes Heathrow a modern aerotropolis which contributes an estimated 2.7% to London's total GVA.

The airport is owned and operated by BAA Limited, who also own and operate five other UK airports.^[6] BAA is owned by ADI Limited, an international consortium led by Ferrovial Group, which also includes Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and GIC Special Investments.^[7] Heathrow is a primary hub for BMI and British Airways as well as a base for Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Heathrow lies 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) west^[1] of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with four operational terminals on a site that covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). Terminal 5 was officially dedicated 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 old terminal building and adjacent Queen's Building began in 2009 with the first phase expected to open in 2014.^[8] Terminals 3 and 4 underwent major refurbishments between 2007–2009. In November 2007, a consultation process began for the building of a new third runway and a sixth terminal, which was controversially^[9] approved on 15 January 2009 by UK Government ministers.^[10] The project was subsequently cancelled on 12 May 2010 by the Cameron Government.^[11]

The airport holds a Civil Aviation Authority Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527), which allows flights for public transportation of passengers or for flying instruction.^[12]

Location[link]

A Qantas Boeing 747-400 on approach to London Heathrow 27L runway overflying the roofs of houses in Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.^[13]

Heathrow is 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi) west of central London,^[1] near the south end of the London Borough of Hillingdon on a parcel of land that is designated part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The airport is surrounded by the built-up areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford to the north and by Hounslow and Hatton to the east. To the south lie East Bedfont and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Colnbrook in Berkshire by the M25 motorway.

As the airport is west of London and as its runways run east–west, an airliner's landing approach is usually directly over the conurbation of London. Other leading European airports, such as those at Madrid, Frankfurt and Paris, are located north or south of their respective cities to minimise the overflying problem.^{[citation needed]}

Along with Biggin Hill, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Southend and City, Heathrow is one of seven airports serving the London area; although only Heathrow, Biggin Hill and City are within Greater London.

History[link]

For a chronicled history of Heathrow Airport, see History of London Heathrow Airport.

Heathrow Airport started in 1929 as a small airfield (Great West Aerodrome) on land southeast of the hamlet of Heathrow (straggling along a road which ran along the east and south edges of the present main terminals area). Development of the whole Heathrow area as a very big airfield started in 1944, stated to be for long-distance military aircraft bound for the far east. But by the time the airfield was nearing completion, World War 2 had ended. The government continued to develop the airfield, as a civil airport, known as London Airport and later Heathrow.

The name 'Heathrow' originates from a local hamlet called 'Heathrow' or 'Heath Row', whose land was mostly farms and market gardens and orchards; there was a 'Heathrow Farm' (approximately where Terminal 1 is now) which was apparently owned by the wealthy Coutts family though tenants rented the farm; and a Heathrow Hall and a Heathrow House. Now the name 'Heathrow' is widely known across the world, and occurs in the names of many establishments around the airport, some having no connection with flying, such as the Heathrow Garden Centre in Sipson. It has developed adapted forms in some languages, for example Hītrovas (Latvian), हीथ्रो (Hīthrō) (Hindi), Hitrou (Azeri), Хитроу (Russian), 希斯路 (Xīsīlù, literally "hope/rare, given/this, road") (Chinese).

Heathrow today[link]

Radar tower situated in Heathrow's central terminal area

Heathrow Airport is used by over 90 airlines flying to 170 destinations worldwide. The airport is the primary hub of BMI and British Airways, and is a base for Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Concorde G-BOAB in storage at Heathrow

Of Heathrow's 69 million passengers in 2011, 7% were bound for UK destinations, 41% were short-haul international travellers and 52% were long-haul.^[14] The busiest single destination in terms of passenger numbers is New York, with over 3.8 million passengers travelling between Heathrow and JFK / Newark airports in 2011.^[15] The airport has four passenger terminals (Terminals 1, 3, 4 and 5) and a cargo terminal.

In the 1950s, Heathrow had six runways, arranged in three pairs at different angles in the shape of a hexagram (i.e. ✡), with the permanent passenger terminal in the centre and the older terminal along the north edge of the field, and two of its runways would always be within 30° of the wind direction. As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has just two parallel runways running east–west.

Policing of the airport is the responsibility of the aviation security unit of the Metropolitan Police, although the army, including armoured vehicles of the Household Cavalry, has occasionally been deployed at the airport during periods of heightened security. Heathrow's reputation for thefts has led to it sometimes being referred to as 'Thiefrow'.^[16]

Full body scanners are now used at the airport and passengers who object to their use after being selected are not allowed to fly.^[17]

Heathrow Airport has Anglican, Catholic, Free Church of Scotland, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh chaplains. There is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal in addition to St. George's Interdenominational Chapel 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.^[18]

Heathrow airport has its own resident press corps, consisting of six photographers and one TV crew, serving all the major newspapers and television stations around the world.^[19]

Operations[link]

Airbridges at Terminal 5

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.^[20] Each is defined by a VOR radio-navigational beacon. When the airport is busy, aircraft orbit in the associated hold patterns. These holding areas lie to the north-west, north-east, south-east and south-west of the London conurbation. Aircraft hold between 7000 feet and 15000 feet at 1000 foot intervals. If these holds become full aircraft are held at more distant points before being cleared onward to one of the four main holds.

Air traffic controllers at Heathrow Approach Control (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; 2.9 mi) apart. Considerable use is made of continuous descent approach techniques to minimise the environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night.^[21] Once an aircraft is established on its final approach, control is handed over to Heathrow Tower.

The centralised waiting area in Terminal 3

Because aircraft generate significantly more noise on departure than when landing, there is a preference for westerly operations during daylight.^[22] In this mode, aircraft depart towards the west and approach from the east over London, thereby minimising the impact of noise on 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 15:00 each day if 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 Agreement. 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 23:00 and 07:00, the noisiest aircraft (rated QC/8 and QC/16) cannot be scheduled for operation. In addition, during the night quota period (23:30–06:00) 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;^[23]
• A voluntary ban on QC/4 aircraft.

Regulation[link]

This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (April 2010)

British Airways Boeing 747-400s at Terminal 5.

As BAA own Heathrow and Stansted, two of London's major airports (respectively the first and third busiest by passengers in London), they hold a dominant position in the London Aviation market and are heavily regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as to the amounts they charge airlines to land at Heathrow. Until 1 April 2003, the annual increase in landing charge per passenger was capped at inflation minus 3%. From 2003 to 2007, charges increased by inflation plus 6.5% per year, taking the fee to £9.28 per passenger in 2007. In March 2008, the CAA announced that the charge would be allowed to increase by 23.5% to £12.80 from 1 April 2008, and by inflation plus 7.5% for each of the following four years.^[24]

Prior to 2008, Air traffic between Heathrow and the United States was 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 while Virgin Atlantic was added to the list of airlines allowed to operate on these routes. The Bermuda bilateral agreement conflicted with the Right of Establishment of the United Kingdom in terms of its EU membership, 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 came into effect on 30 March 2008. Since then, additional US Airlines including Continental, US Airways and Delta have started services to Heathrow.

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).^[25]

According to BAA, Heathrow's facilities were originally designed to accommodate 55 million passengers annually. With this number currently approaching 70 million, the airport has been criticised in recent years for its overcrowding and delays,^[26] and in 2007 the airport was voted the world's least favourite alongside Chicago O'Hare in a TripAdvisor survey.^[27] However, the opening of Terminal 5 in 2008 has relieved some pressure on terminal facilities, increasing the airport's terminal capacity to 90 million passengers a year. A tie-up is also in place with McLaren Applied Technologies in order to optimise the general procedure reducing delays and pollution.^[28]

With only two runways operating at over 98% of their capacity, Heathrow has little room for more flights, although the increasing use of larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 will allow some increase in passenger numbers. 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.^[29] In order to increase the number of flights, BAA have proposed using the existing two runways in 'mixed mode' whereby aircraft would be allowed to take-off and land on the same runway.^[30] 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.^[31] BAA also proposed building a third runway to the north of the airport, which would have significantly increased traffic capacity (see Future expansion below).^[32]

Most of Heathrow's internal roads are initial-letter-coded by area: N in the north (e.g. Newall Road), E in the east (e.g. Elmdon Road), S in the south (e.g. Stratford Road), W in the west (e.g. Walrus Road), C in the centre (e.g. Camborne Road).

Terminals[link]

Terminal 1[link]

Terminal 1 opened in 1968 and was formally inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1969.^[33] Before Terminal 5 opened, Terminal 1 was the base for British Airways' domestic network from Heathrow and for a few of its long haul routes.

In 2005, substantial redesign and redevelopment of the terminal saw the opening of the new Eastern Extension, doubling the size of the departure lounge and creating additional seating as well as retail space. With an area of 74,601m², the terminal is home to Heathrow's second largest carrier, BMI, Aer Lingus, and several other Star Alliance airlines. Some of the newer boarding gates used by airlines present in Terminal 1 are numbered in Terminal 2 (i.e. gate 2xx instead of gate 1xx). Those recently built gates will be retained as part of the new Terminal 2 after Terminal 2 officially opens. A temporary connector is in place between the older Terminal 1 and these recently built gates.

Terminal 1 will be closed and then demolished around 2013–14,^[8] in preparation for construction of the 2nd phase of Terminal 2, scheduled for completion in 2019. There are no plans to re-use the Terminal 1 name.

Terminal 2 (under construction)[link]

Old Heathrow Terminal 2 building in 2007

Old Heathrow Terminal 2 looking N-W in 2006

Heathrow's current major project is the construction of a vast new Terminal 2. Formerly known as Heathrow East Terminal, the whole project will occupy a site similar in size to that of Terminal 5.

Old Terminal 2[link]

The building previously known as Terminal 2 had been Heathrow's oldest terminal, opening as the Europa Building in 1955, and closing on 23 November 2009.^[34] Air France flight AF1881 to Paris was the last flight to depart from the terminal. It had an area of 49,654m² and in its lifetime saw 316 million passengers pass through its doors. Originally designed to handle around 1.2 million passengers annually, in its final years of operation it often accommodated around 8 million. Despite the best efforts of maintenance staff and various renovations and upgrades over the years, the building became increasingly decrepit and unserviceable and was demolished in the Summer of 2010.^[35] The resulting space has been combined with an adjacent area (where the Queen's Building stood until its demolition in 2009) to form the site for the new terminal.

Terminal 3[link]

Terminal 3 bird's-eye view

Terminal 3 opened as The Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 to handle flight departures for long-haul routes.^[36] At this time the airport had a direct helicopter service to Central London from the gardens on the roof of the terminal building. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building. Other facilities added included the UK's first moving walkways. In 2006, the new £105 million Pier 6 was completed^[37] to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo; Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas now operate regular flights from Terminal 3 using the Airbus A380. Redevelopment of Terminal 3's forecourt through 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. As part of this project, Virgin Atlantic was assigned its own dedicated check-in area, known as 'Zone A', which features a large sculpture and atrium. BAA also has plans for a £1bn upgrade of the rest of the terminal over the next ten years which will include the renovation of aircraft piers and the arrivals forecourt. A new baggage system connecting to Terminal 5 (for British Airways connections) is currently under construction. In addition to the baggage system, the baggage claim hall is also set to undergo changes with dedicated A380 belts and an improved design and layout.^[38]

Today Terminal 3 has an area of 98,962m² and in 2011 handled 19.4 million passengers on 104,100 flights.^[39]

Terminal 4[link]

Terminal 4 bird's-eye view

First opened in 1986, Terminal 4 is situated to the south of the southern runway next to the cargo terminal and is connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Cargo Tunnel. The terminal has an area of 105,481m² and is now home to the SkyTeam alliance, as well as some unaffiliated carriers. It has recently undergone a £200m upgrade to enable it to accommodate 45 airlines with an upgraded forecourt to reduce traffic congestion and improve security. An extended check-in area with renovated piers and departure lounges, as well as two new stands to accommodate the Airbus A380 have been constructed, and a new baggage system installed.^[40]

Terminal 5[link]

Terminal 5 bird's-eye view

Terminal 5 lies between the northern and southern runways at the west end of the Heathrow site and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008,^[41] some 19 years after its inception. Opened to the public on 27 March 2008, the first passenger to enter Terminal 5 was a UK ex-pat from Kenya who passed through security at 04:30 on the day to be presented with a boarding pass by the British Airways CEO Willie Walsh for the first departing flight, BA302 to Paris. During the two weeks after its opening, operations were disrupted by problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with insufficient testing and staff training, which caused over 500 flights to be cancelled.^[42] Until March 2012, Terminal 5 was exclusively used by British Airways as their global hub, however on March 25, Iberia's operations at Heathrow were moved to the terminal, making it the home of International Airlines Group.

Built at a cost of £4.3 billion, the new terminal consists of a four storey main terminal building (Concourse A) and two satellite buildings linked to the main terminal by an underground people mover transit system. The second satellite (Concourse C), includes dedicated aircraft stands for the Airbus A380. It became fully operational on 1 June 2011.

The main terminal building (Concourse A) has an area of 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft) while Concourse B covers 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft).^[43] It has 60 aircraft stands and capacity for 30 million passengers annually as well as more than 100 shops and restaurants.^[44]

A further building, designated Concourse D and of similar size to Concourse C, may yet be built to the East of the existing site, providing up to another 16 stands. Following British Airways' merger with Iberia, this may become a priority since the newly combined business will require accommodation at Heathrow under one roof to maximise the cost savings envisaged under the deal. A proposal for Concourse D featured in Heathrow's most recent capital investment plan.

The transport network around the airport has been extended to cope with the increase in passenger numbers. A dedicated motorway spur links the M25 between junctions 14 and 15 to the terminal, which includes a 3,800 space multi-storey car park. A more distant long-stay car park for business passengers is connected to the terminal by a personal rapid transit system, which became operational in Spring 2011.^[45] New branches of both the Heathrow Express and the Underground's Piccadilly Line serve a new shared Heathrow Terminal 5 station.

Airlines and destinations[link]

Passenger services[link]

A British Airways aircraft on stand at Terminal 5, preparing its flight to Tokyo Narita as BA5

British Airways' promotional banner above the check in desks at Terminal 5.

Cities with direct international airlinks with Heathrow.

Terminal rearrangements[link]

Boeing 737-400 of LOT (SP-LLC) on approach to the airport

Following the opening of Terminal 5 in March 2008, a hugely complex programme of terminal moves has been implemented. This has seen many airlines move so as to be grouped in terminals by airline alliance as far as possible:^[50]

• Terminal 1: Star Alliance – plus some non-aligned airlines
• Terminal 3: Oneworld and Star Alliance – plus Virgin Atlantic, select British Airways destinations and several non-aligned airlines^[51]
• Terminal 4: SkyTeam – and remaining non-aligned airlines
• Terminal 5: International Airlines Group - British Airways and Iberia

Further moves are dependent on the airport's significant construction schedule but will broadly be as follows:

• In January 2014:
  • All Star Alliance member airlines will move into Phase 1 of the new Terminal 2
  • Terminal 1 will be gradually demolished to make way for Phase 2 of the new Terminal 2
• In early 2019:
  • Phase 2 of the new Terminal 2 will open, enabling further moves to relieve pressure on Terminal 3

Cargo services[link]

Other facilities[link]

Compass Centre, when it was a British Airways facility

The head office of BAA Limited is located in the Compass Centre by Heathrow's northern runway,^[52] a building that previously served as a British Airways flight crew centre.^[53] The World Business Centre Heathrow consists of buildings one and two. 1 World Business Centre houses offices of BAA Limited, Heathrow Airport, and Scandinavian Airlines.^[54] International Airlines Group has its head office in 2 World Business Centre.^[55][56]

At one time, the British Airways head office, was located within Heathrow Airport at Speedbird House^[57] before the completion of Waterside, the current BA head office in Harmondsworth, in June 1998.^[58]

Traffic and statistics[link]

Although BAA claims that Heathrow is the "world's busiest international airport",^[59] in 2011 it ranked third-busiest by total passenger traffic, after Atlanta and Beijing which are all international airports. However, Heathrow does have the highest number of international passengers.

In 2011, Heathrow was the busiest airport in Europe in terms of total passenger traffic,^[2] with 13.9% more passengers than Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport^[60] and 23.0% more than Frankfurt Airport,^[61] However, it was in second place behind Charles de Gaulle in terms of total aircraft movements in 2011 with 5.1% fewer landings and take offs than its French counterpart.^[60] Heathrow was the third busiest European airport by cargo traffic in 2010, after Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt.^[62]

Annual passenger numbers[link]

Passenger numbers at Heathrow^[63]

Year	Passengers handled[nb 1]	Passenger % Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % Change	Aircraft Movements	Aircraft % Change
1986	31,675,779	26 !	537,131	26 !	315,753
1987	35,079,755	02 !10.7	574,116	09 !6.9	329,977	4.3
1988	37,840,503	04 !7.9	642,147	05 !11.8	351,592	6.1
1989	39,881,922	08 !5.4	686,170	10 !6.9	368,429	4.6
1990	42,950,512	05 !7.7	695,347	17 !1.3	390,372	5.6
1991	40,494,575	24 !5.7	654,625	23 !5.9	381,724	2.3
1992	45,242,591	01 !11.7	754,770	01 !15.3	406,481	6.1
1993	47,899,081	07 !5.9	846,486	04 !12.2	411,173	1.1
1994	51,713,366	03 !8.0	962,738	03 !13.7	424,557	3.2
1995	54,461,597	10 !5.3	1,031,639	08 !7.2	434,525	2.3
1996	56,049,706	15 !2.9	1,040,486	18 !0.9	440,343	1.3
1997	58,185,398	13 !3.8	1,156,104	06 !11.1	440,631	0.1
1998	60,683,988	11 !4.3	1,208,893	13 !4.6	451,382	2.4
1999	62,268,292	16 !2.6	1,265,495	12 !4.7	458,300	1.5
2000	64,618,254	14 !3.8	1,306,905	16 !3.3	466,799	1.8
2001	60,764,924	25 !6.0	1,180,306	25 !9.6	463,567	0.7
2002	63,362,097	12 !4.3	1,234,940	14 !4.6	466,545	0.6
2003	63,495,367	19 !0.2	1,223,439	20 !0.9	463,650	0.6
2004	67,342,743	06 !6.1	1,325,173	07 !8.3	476,001	2.6
2005	67,913,153	17 !0.8	1,305,686	21 !1.5	477,887	0.4
2006	67,527,923	21 !0.6	1,264,129	22 !3.2	477,048	0.2
2007	68,066,028	18 !0.8	1,310,987	15 !3.7	481,476	0.9
2008	67,054,745	22 !1.5	1,397,054	11 !6.6	478,693	0.6
2009	66,036,957	23 !1.5	1,277,650	24 !8.5	466,393	2.6
2010	65,881,660	20 !0.2	1,472,988	02 !15.3	454,823	2.5
2011	69,433,230	09 !5.4	1,484,351	19 !0.8	480,906	5.4

Busiest international routes[link]