Heathrow

The airport is located west of London , its runways are oriented from west to east, which means that planes must take off directly above the city. Other major European airports, such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris, are located in the southern or northern part of the city, which avoids such problems.

Other features of the airport: low altitude (25 meters) and frequent fogs.

Heathrow is one of two international airports located within the Greater London area , the second is London City .

1930-1940s

The place where Heathrow Airport is located today began to be used for aviation needs during the First World War , at which time there was a military airfield. In the 1930s, the airport, which was then called the Big Western Airfield , was used by Fairey Aviation for assembly and testing of aircraft ^[2] . Commercial airlines used Croydon Airport, which was London's main airport at the time.

In 1943, Heathrow became controlled by the Ministry of Aviation and began to develop as an intermediate base for the Royal Air Force of Great Britain ^{[2] [3]} . The construction of the runways began in 1944 on land previously owned by the parish priest of Harmonsworth. The new airport was named after the village of Heath Row, which was destroyed during the construction of the airport, and was located approximately at the site of today's Terminal 3 ^[4] .

The Royal Air Force never used the airport, and after the end of World War II , Heathrow control was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The first civilian flight took place on January 1, 1946 , in Buenos Aires with refueling in Lisbon . The airport began to operate completely as a civilian on May 31, 1946, and by 1947 there were three runways at Heathrow, and three more were under construction. The first runways built for piston aircraft were short, and their directions took into account all wind directions.

1950-1960s

In 1953, the first slab of the first modern runway was solemnly laid by Queen Elizabeth II . In 1955, she also opened the first permanent terminal building, the Europe Building (now known as Terminal 2 ). On April 1, 1955 , a new 38.8-meter tower of the command and control tower was opened.

The Ocean Terminal (renamed Terminal 3 in 1968 ) was opened on November 13, 1961 to serve long-distance flights ^[5] . At this time, the airport served direct helicopter communication with central London and winter gardens on the roof of the terminal ^[6] . Terminal 1 was opened in 1968, the terminal complex was completed, and Heathrow was able to serve 14 million passengers annually.

The location of the first terminals in the center of the airport has since become the main limiter to its further expansion. During the construction, the need for a large car parking was not taken into account, since it was assumed that traveling by plane would be available only to the rich - who would bring their own drivers to the terminal.

In the late 1960s, a Cargo Terminal was built on an area of ​​160 acres south of the south runway, it was connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by a cargo tunnel.

1970-1990s

Terminal 3 was expanded in 1970 , the arrival hall increased. Many technical improvements have been introduced, including the first UK travelators ^[7] . The two main runways have been increased so that the airport can accept new large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 .

In 1977, the London Underground was extended to Heathrow; The Piccadilly line began to deliver passengers from the airport to Central London in just an hour. On June 23, 1998, direct rail links to Paddington London Station were opened along the purpose-built Great West Main Line Railway.

The continued growth in passenger traffic reached 30 million passengers a year by the early 1980s, so there was a need for a new larger terminal. Terminal 4 was built south of the south runway next to the existing cargo terminal, away from the other three terminals, it was connected to Terminals 1 , 2 and 3 by the existing cargo tunnel. Terminal 4 was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in April 1986 , and it has become the home terminal for the recently privatized airline British Airways .

In 1987, the British government nationalized the British Airports Authority (today known as “BAA Limited”), which operated Heathrow ^[8] and six other UK airports ^[9] .

During the 1980-1990s, after the privatization of BAA Limited, the terminals in Heathrow were significantly expanded, the number of retail outlets and restaurants increased.

Disasters

• March 3, 1948 while Douglas DC-3 Dakota of Sabena Airlines crashed in fog. Three crew members and 19 of the 22 passengers died ^[10] .
• On October 31, 1950, Vickers Viking of British European Airways crashed while landing, 3 crew members and 25 passengers died ^[11] .
• On October 27, 1965 , British European Airways' Vickers Vanguard, crashed from Edinburgh, crashed while landing in poor visibility. Killed 6 crew members and 30 passengers ^[12] .
• On April 8, 1968 , a Boeing 707 of a BOAC airline flying to Australia via Singapore caught fire after takeoff. The engine fell off the wing and fell, after which the aircraft made an emergency landing. The plane completely burned out on the ground — five people, 4 passengers and a stewardess, died; 122 were saved. Barbara Harrison, a stewardess whose actions saved the people, was posthumously awarded the George Cross ^{[13] [14]} .
• On June 18, 1972 , the British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident , flying from Heathrow to Brussels, crashed shortly after taking off on a field near Staines. All 109 passengers and 9 crew members were killed ^[15] .
• On January 17, 2008, a Boeing 777 of British Airways , en route Beijing - London, landed hard at 270 meters from the airport runway. All 152 people on board survived.

Terrorism and crime

• On May 19, 1974, IRA militants detonated several bombs in the parking lot of Terminal 1 , resulting in 2 injured ^[16] .
• On November 26, 1983 , the Brinks Mat was robbed when 6,800 gold bars worth about £ 26 million were stolen from the Brinks Mat vault near Heathrow. Only part of the gold was discovered, and only two participants in the robbery were convicted ^[17] .
• On April 17, 1986 , the Semtex explosive was discovered in the baggage of a pregnant Irish aboard an El Al flight. She received explosives from her Jordanian friend and father of the unborn child ^[18] .
• In 1994, for six days, Heathrow thrice ( March 8, March 10 and March 13 ) was fired from IRA mortars. The choice of goal was due to the fact that Heathrow is an important symbol of Great Britain and plays an important role in the country's economy.

• In March 2002, criminals stole $ 3 million from a South African Airways flight ^[19] .
• Troops were deployed in Heathrow in February 2003, with the support of over 1,000 police officers after reports that al-Qaeda was planning to attack British and American aircraft with anti-aircraft missiles ^[20] .
• Scotland Yard thwarted an attempt by seven criminals to steal £ 40 million in gold bars and a large amount of cash from a Swissport warehouse in Heathrow on May 17, 2004 .

Heathrow serves more than 90 airlines that connect London with 170 airports worldwide. The airport is a hub for British Airways , Virgin Atlantic Airways .

Heathrow annually serves 67 million passengers, 11% of which follow domestic flights, 43% - short-distance foreign flights and 46% - long-distance flights. The busiest destination is New York; over 3.4 million passengers were transported in this direction in 2006 ^[21] . There are 5 passenger terminals and one cargo terminal at the airport. The fifth passenger terminal, Terminal 5, was opened on March 27, 2008 ^{[22] [23]} .
On March 28, 2008, after the opening and start of work of Terminal 5, a number of failures occurred in its electronic systems, in particular, in the access control system for employees and employees, and in the latest automated baggage system, which led to their disconnection. As a result, the operation of Terminal 5 and, in part, of the entire airport, was paralyzed for 11 days, as a result of which hundreds of flights were canceled, tens of thousands of passengers could not fly in time or refused to fly, more than 20 thousand pieces of baggage accumulated in the territory of Terminal 5 who "understood" and returned to the owners for about 5 weeks. On this occasion, on May 7, 2008, a hearing of the parliamentary committee was held in the House of Commons of the British Parliament ^[24] .

Heathrow initially had six runways, built in three pairs at different angles, with a passenger terminal in the center. Due to the increase in the required length requirements for runways in Heathrow, today only two parallel runways are directed from east to west. Runway 23, a short runway for use in strong southwestern winds, has recently ceased to function and has become part of taxiway A. The Department of Transport has issued a paper proposing the construction of a third parallel runway to unload the two main ones, which involves the destruction of residential buildings.

Exit 6 from Terminal 3 was refitted to service the new Airbus A380 ; in addition, Terminal 5 is fully ready to receive the A380 from March 2008. The first test flight of the A380 to Heathrow took place on May 18, 2006 ^[25] .

The new 87-meter £ 50 million command and control tower began operating on April 21, 2007 , and officially opened on June 13, 2007 .

At Heathrow Airport there are priests of a number of religions and faiths: Anglican , Catholic , Scottish churches, Islam , Sikhism , Hinduism and Judaism . Each terminal has a prayer room, in addition, there is the Chapel of St. George , which is located in an underground bunker near the old traffic control tower. In the chapel, Anglican services are held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, daily - Catholic services and services of the Scottish church.

Airport services are designed to service 45 million passengers a year. As passenger traffic approaches 70 million, the airport has become crowded and flight delays are frequent. This has criticized the airport in recent years ^[26] and in 2007, Heathrow was voted the worst airport by TripAdvisor polls ^[27] . For this reason, the airport has limited the number of slots for some airlines that planned to start work in Heathrow or increase the number of departures.

There are 17 international hotels in and around Heathrow, convenient for those arriving or departing early in the morning or late at night. You can get to them from Heathrow by the bus "Heathrow Hotel Hoppa" transport company National Express. Buses depart every 10-15 minutes daily from terminals 1-3 and every 30 minutes from terminal 4 between 06:00 and 23:00.

Train Moving

Taking the Heathrow Express train is the fastest way to get to central London . Trains start from Heathrow at about 5 a.m. and end at 23:30. Travel time is 15-20 minutes. The Heathrow Express train stops at two airport platforms - one, Heathrow Central, serves terminals 1-3, and the other, terminal 5. Passengers traveling to terminal 4 must change trains on the Heathrow Central platform and use the free shuttle.

The services provided by the Heathrow Express train will facilitate the journey of any passenger. Wheelchairs are available on the train, and the free Skycaps service will provide special needs passengers at Heathrow Airport. Arrivals and transfers for passengers with disabilities to / from Paddington Station are also not complicated.

Subway train

The Piccadilly line of the London Underground line (shown in blue on the map) is connected to all Heathrow Airport terminals: for terminals 1, 2, 3, there is a common station Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3, and for the remaining two - respectively, Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal five.

Transfer time to the center is about 50 minutes. Keep in mind that due to technical problems, trains may follow with delays; in addition, the branch branches in front of Terminals 1, 2, 3 station: some of the trains go to Terminal 5, which is the last station in a straight line, and part to Terminal 4, which is on a loop with Terminals 1, 2, 3, after which the train turns around and travels towards the center. Due to the fact that trains pass through Terminal 4 only one way, trains can stop at this station for approximately 8 minutes, so if terminals 1, 2 or 3 are needed, it is better to take a train to Terminal 5.

Bus

National Express buses offer a route connecting Heathrow Central Bus Station and Victoria Bus Station. Travel time from 45 minutes to 1 hour. Some buses make stops along the road near Hammersmith metro stations or Earls Court . Buses from Heathrow start at 05:30 and end at 21:30.

At night, bus number 9 leaves for central London at Trafalgar Square every 30 minutes.

Taxi

At Heathrow Airport, taxis are usually lined up to take passengers. The fare is controlled by a counter and displayed on its display. Additional charges, for example, in the evening or on weekends, are also indicated.

Each terminal has a taxi reference.

Ultra

Heathrow also uses an innovative form of personal transport ( Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) ), moving along overpasses. Travel speed is 40 km / h. The system moves the passenger from the parking lot to the departure and arrival hall. The path takes about 2-3 minutes with a path length of 3.8 kilometers. It is assumed that waiting for the trailer after the call will need no more than 12 seconds.

• Personal auto transport

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