Heathrow International Airport (LHR)

Introduction

Heathrow International Airport is the UK’s largest airport and it is the busiest international airport in the world in terms of global passengers. It is located on the edge of Hounslow in the London Borough of Hillingdon, 15 miles west of London. Heathrow International Airport currently handles approximately 64 million passengers each year.

Facilities and Services

Heathrow International Airport offers scheduled flights to over 90 countries in the world. There are over 90 airlines that operate out of Heathrow International Airport, which include all of the world’s major airlines.

Heathrow International Airport has four terminals. A fifth terminal is currently being built. All terminals offers passenger departure lounges containing an excellent range of retail and catering facilities. Arriving passengers needs are catered for with visitor information; currency exchange; car hire desks; retail and catering facilities which are available in all of the terminals arrivals areas.

Heathrow International Airport’s business travellers are catered for with many executive lounges, in all of the terminals, offering peace and quiet and modern business facilities such as e-mail; and Internet access as well as complimentary drinks and snacks in a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. There are also many exclusive airline lounges for qualifying passengers to be found in each of the terminal buildings.

Getting to the Airport

Heathrow International Airport is situated fifteen miles to the west of Central London and is close to both the M4 and M25 motorways. Passengers travelling from Terminals 1, 2, and 3 should take the M4 and exit at junction 4a. This exit will take you directly to the airport’s entrance tunnel. Passengers for Terminal 4 should take the M25 and exit at junction 14. Take the A3113 to Heathrow. Then follow the signs along the airport’s southern perimeter road until reaching the terminal. The M4 and M25 interchange at junction 4b/15.

Heathrow International Airport has two railway stations. They are Heathrow Airport Terminals 1, 2 and 3; and Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. Both are served by London Underground’s Piccadilly Line and the Heathrow Express direct service from London’s Paddington Station. The station at Terminals 1, 2 and 3 is also served by the Heathrow Connect service that also connects Paddington Station with the airport and the stations in between.

There are four Railair services that connect Heathrow International Airport with Reading; Watford Junction; Woking and Feltham stations. Passengers are transferred from these stations by coach or bus.

National Express and various other operators provide frequent coach connections with more than 500 local and national destinations.

Heathrow International Airport is served by many local bus services which call in to either, the Central bus station, Terminal 4 bus station, or Hatton Cross bus station. A night bus, N9 connects the airport with Central London throughout the night.

Parking at the Airport

There is short stay parking available at all of Heathrow International Airport’s terminals. It is recommended for stays of up to 5 hours although longer stays are allowed if required.

For travellers requiring parking for up to 3 or 4 days, or those who want greater speed and convenience, business parking is recommended. Business car parks are located closer to the terminals than long stay car parks and operate a more frequent courtesy coach transfer. The long stay car parks at Heathrow International Airport offer secure parking facilities connected to the airport’s terminals by transfer services that run every 5 – 15 minutes.

Valet parking is also available for all terminals at Heathrow. In order to make a booking to secure a space at any of these pre-bookable car parks at Heathrow International Airport via Carparking.com

History of Heathrow International Airport

The origins of Heathrow International Airport lie in a small, grass airfield, privately owned by Fairey Aviation, which was used for test flying. It was the nearby airparks at Heston and Hanworth that were being used for commercial flights.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation took over the airfield in January 1946. At this time it only had one runway that was ready for use and a makeshift terminal was created out of a surplus tent. And so Heathrow Airport opened for civilian use on 31st May 1946. An inauspicious start for what was to become one of the world’s busiest airports.

By the early 1950s there were three runways in operation and a terminal building was constructed in the central area. Due to the increasing numbers of passengers, a new building, Terminal 2 was built which the Queen opened in 1955. Also the tunnel, which is the main road access to Heathrow Airport’s central area, was completed.

By 1968 a third terminal was opened, to handle the long-haul carriers. Heathrow Airport continued to grow during the 1970’s and 1980’s and Terminal 4 was built in 1986 on the south side of the airport. Although this building was a state of the art facility, it had the disadvantage of being 10-20 minutes transfer from the heart of Heathrow Airport. Space in the central area of the airport is very restricted and the location of any further buildings has to be remote. For this reason, Terminal 5 which is currently under construction is situated at the western perimeter of the airport.