Heathrow Airport History

Heathrow Airport began its life in the 1930s as the Great Western Aerodrome the airport was named after / either Judge John Heath or the hamlet village (hamlet of Heathrow) which was destroyed as a result of the airport being built. This is approximately where terminal 3 is based.
Heathrow airport started its life as a tented village. In those years there was just one terminal , which was an army surplus tent based just a short walk from the airplane . The story goes that there was a bar in the tent, and you would hand in your boarding card here.
There was only a handful of airlines in those years flying to 18 destinations and making just 9,000 flight yearly.

Even In 2000 - 2001 Heathrow airport handled around 64 million passengers, making it the busiest International airport in the world. 90 airlines flew to 160 destinations worldwide, on average 1,250 flights were flying out of Heathrow daily.

The first Heathrow Airport departure took place in January 1946 heading for Buenos Aires via Lisbon. Lisbon was its first refueling stop on this long first trip to South America.

Heathrow Airport now handles more International passengers than any airport in the world. Daily flights travel to Paris 33 times & New York 23.
The most popular destination is United States America. The busiest route are New York, Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin.

Heathrow airports busiest ever day recorded was in July 2001 when 213,000 passengers passed through its airport terminals

1944 War was taking place and it was necessary for Air Ministry to use Heathrow airport as a transfer base for the R.A.F. But before work was completed the war was over, and with it came the prospect of a huge expansion in civil aviation. The partly built site was ideal as London needed a large airport. So the history of the airport started, when three runways were built by 1947 and by the 1950s the tent used was now history as a permanent building arose and a new chapter began.

Demand for facilities were needed as airport passengers increased and a new terminal was built in 1955. There is now 4 Terminals at Heathrow with planning for a fifth, which is due to be finished and opened by the spring of 2008.

Terminal 1

Formally opened in 1969 by Her Majesty The Queen.
Home to 13 Airlines
24.6 million passengers used Heathrow Terminal in 1999

Terminal 2

Formally used as Heathrows first terminal. Opened again for short haul flights in 1955.
Home to 28 Airlines
8.2 million passengers used Heathrow Terminal in 1999

Terminal 3

Opened for long haul flights in 1961
Home to 43 Airlines
Terminal 3 handles approximately 15.5 million passengers yearly.

Terminal 4

Was formally opened by Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales in April 1986.
Home to 6 Airlines.
Approximately 14.2 million passengers pass through Terminal 4 each year.

Today London Heathrow is the world's busiest International Airport. With such a large amount of passengers going through the airport every day, building of a 3rd runway is being talked about to ease the congestion problem.

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