Monday, August 18, 2008

Heathrow Airport




Heathrow is located 15 miles (24 km) west of central London, England, near the southern end of the London Borough of Hillingdon and in the county of Middlesex.


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. Heathrow Airport is used by over 90 airlines which fly to 170 destinations worldwide. The airport is the primary hub of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.


Terminal 1 : Opened in 1968 and then formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 1969. In 2005, a substantial redesign and redevelopment of Terminal 1 was completed, which saw the opening of the new Eastern Extension, doubling the departure lounge in size and creating additional seating and retail space. Terminal 1 handles most of Heathrow's domestic and Irish routes along with some long haul routes and European routes.


Terminal 2 : It is Heathrow's oldest terminal and was opened as the Europa Building in 1955. Terminal 2, as well as the adjacent Queens Building, will close in 2008 after the opening of Terminal 5, to allow for the construction of the new Heathrow East terminal. According to BAA, Terminal 2 will be demolished in 2009. Terminal 2 handles mainly European routes.


Terminal 3 : Opened as The Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 to handle flight departures for long-haul routes. At this time the airport had a direct helicopter service to Central London from the gardens on the roof of the terminal building. The Oceanic Terminal was renamed as Terminal 3 in 1968 and was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building. Other facilities were also added, including the UK's first moving walkways. In 2006, the new £105 million Pier 6 was completed in order to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo; Singapore Airlines now operate regular flights from Terminal 3 using the Airbus A380.


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.
Work is now underway on a complete refurbishment and modernisation of Terminal 4's forecourt to improve passengers' experiences, reduce traffic congestion and improve security.


Terminal 5 : Built at a cost of £4.3 billion, the new terminal is located on the western side of the airport on the site of the former Perry Oaks sewage works, between the northern and southern runways. 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. In addition to the main terminal building, there are also two satellite buildings linked to the main terminal by an underground people mover transit system. The first satellite (Concourse B) includes dedicated aircraft stands for the Airbus A380; Concourse C is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2010. In total, Terminal 5 has 60 aircraft stands and capacity for 30 million passengers annually; this will enable Heathrow to handle up to 90 million passengers a year, up from its previous figure of 68 million (compared with a design capacity of 45 million). There are more than 100 shops and restaurants.


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 serve a new shared Heathrow Terminal 5 station, which also has space for a third pair of tracks for future additional rail services. BAA are currently consulting on the route of a new rail link, called Heathrow Airtrack, to Staines High Street and through direct services to Reading, Guildford and London Waterloo. The terminal is also connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel.

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