Heathrow Airport, London
Photo: David Monniaux, GNU Free Documentation License
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and one of the busiest in the world. It is located 24 km (15 miles) west of Central London, on the southern end of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It is one of two international London airports located within the Greater London Area, the other being London City Airport.
Heathrow has two parallel main runways and four functional terminals with the next one, Terminal 5, expected to operate from March 2008. Some of the existing terminals have been earmarked for redevelopment. Heathrow East terminal, expected to come into operation in 2012 will replace Terminal 2 and The Queens Building.
Heathrow Airport started as the Great Western Aerodrome in the 1930s, on land originally acquired from the vicar of Harmondsworth. It was named after the hamlet of Heath Row, which was cleared to make way for the airport - it is located approximately where Terminal 3 now stands. At that time, Croydon Airport was the main airport serving London.
Construction of the first modern runway at Heathrow Airport commenced 1953. The first permanent terminal building, then called Europa Building, but now Terminal 2, was opened in 1955. Following that, Oceanic Terminal, now known as Terminal 3, opened on 13 November 1961. Terminal 1 completed the cluster of terminal buildings at the centre of Heathrow Airport when it opened in 1968.
The siting of these early terminals reflected the lifestyle at that time. There was little space given to parking, because at that time air travel was affordable onto to the wealthy, who would be chauffeur driven. The location of Heathrow, to the west of London, was also a poor choice. Westerly winds require airlines to fly low over the city for much of the year, something that is avoided by other European cities such as Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
The London Underground was extended to Heathrow in 1977, allowing travellers to reach Central London in under an hour. The Heathrow Express train came into operation in 1998, cutting down travel time to Paddingtom station to only 15 minutes. Terminal 4, built away from the three older terminals, opened in 1986 and became the new home for British Airways.
Although Heathrow originally had six runways, today it only two parallel runways. To accommodate the introduction of Airbus A380, Pier 6 at Terminal 3 was modified. The new Terminal 5 will also be able to accommodate the A380.
Heathrow Airport claims itself to be the "world's busiest international airport". While it indeed has the highest international passenger numbers, in terms of total passenger traffic, it ranks third after Atlanta-Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago-O'Hare in the United States. In 2006, Heathrow gets 18.8% more passengers than Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and 27.9% more than Frankfurt Airport. However, in terms of plane movements, it is third behind Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt.
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