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73-508: Soest-Bad Sassendorf Airfield ( ICAO : EDLZ ), located in the Sauerland region close to Soest and the Möhnesee , between the A 44 and B 1 , is now a civilian airfield . It is rated / approved as a 'special landing site'. These are often used by private aero clubs . Unlike a commercial airfield, only the operators (and upon request also third parties) may take off and land. There

146-430: A lack of transparency over the way in which the figures are calculated. The airport has always refused to publish a breakdown showing how many "Fly Quiet points" each performance benchmark has contributed towards the total score it awards to an airline, thereby putting obstacles in the way of any independent auditing of the published results. Among other criticisms of the league table are the unexplained omission of some of

219-448: A model of an Emirates Airbus A380 since 2008. Heathrow Airport has Anglican , Catholic , Free Church , Hindu , Jewish , Muslim and Sikh chaplains. There is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal, in addition to St. George's Interdenominational Chapel in an underground vault adjacent to the old control tower, where Christian services take place. The chaplains organise and lead prayers at certain times in

292-548: A new shared Heathrow Terminal 5 station . A dedicated motorway spur links the terminal to the M25 (between junctions 14 and 15). The terminal has 3,800   spaces multi-storey car park . A more distant long-stay car park for business passengers is connected to the terminal by a personal rapid transit system, the Heathrow Pod , which became operational in the spring of 2011. An automated people mover (APM) system, known as

365-610: A priority since the combined business will require accommodation at Heathrow under one roof to maximise the cost savings envisaged under the deal. A proposal for Concourse D was featured in Heathrow's Capital Investment Plan 2009. The transport network around the airport has been extended to cope with the increase in passenger numbers. New branches of both the Heathrow Express and the Underground's Piccadilly line serve

438-594: A site that covers 4.74 square miles (12.3 square kilometres). It was gradually expanded over 75 years and now has two parallel east–west runways , four operational passengers terminals and one cargo terminal. The airport is the primary hub for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic . Heathrow is 14 miles (23 km) west of Central London . It is located 3 miles (5 km) west of Hounslow , 3 miles (5 km) south of Hayes , and 3 miles (5 km) north-east of Staines-upon-Thames . Heathrow falls entirely within

511-616: A third runway to the north of the airport, which would significantly increase traffic capacity. Policing of the airport is the responsibility of the aviation security , a unit of the Metropolitan Police , although the British Army , including armoured vehicles of the Household Cavalry , has occasionally been deployed at the airport during periods of heightened security. Full body scanners are now used at

584-519: A £200   million upgrade to enable it to accommodate 45   airlines with an upgraded forecourt to reduce traffic congestion and improve security. Most flights using Terminal 4 are those from/to East Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East as well as a few flights from/to Europe. An extended check-in area with renovated piers and departure lounges and a new baggage system were installed, and four new stands were built to accommodate

657-416: Is 820 metres (2,690 feet ), while the glider winch launching distance is about 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) long. They are both grass runways, with headings 07/25. The traffic pattern runs south, as the northerly air space is reserved for skydivers . The airfield frequency is 122.600 MHz. There is a fuel station at the airfield with Avgas , Mogas , and Jet A-1 available. Two clubs are based here:

730-480: Is a pseudo-code, used in flight plans for aerodromes with no ICAO code assigned. ICAO codes are sometimes updated. Johannesburg Airport in Johannesburg , South Africa, for instance, was formerly known as Jan Smuts International Airport, with code FAJS. When the airport was renamed O. R. Tambo International Airport, its ICAO code was updated to FAOR. Some airports have two ICAO codes, usually when an airport

803-586: Is dedicated to British Airways's narrowbody fleet for flights around the UK and the rest of Europe, the first satellite (Concourse B) includes dedicated stands for BA and Iberia's widebody fleet except for the Airbus A380, and the second satellite (Concourse C), includes 7 dedicated aircraft stands for the A380. It became fully operational on 1 June 2011. Terminal 5 was voted Skytrax World's Best Airport Terminal 2014 in

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876-473: Is exclusively used by British Airways as its global hub. However, because of the merger, between 25 March 2012 and 12 July 2022, Iberia's operations at Heathrow were moved to the terminal, making it the home of International Airlines Group . On 12 July 2022, Iberia's flight operations were moved back to Terminal 3. On 7 July 2020, American moved to Terminal 5, to allow for easier connections from American's transatlantic flights to British Airways flights during

949-444: Is home to Oneworld members (with the exception of Malaysia Airlines , Qatar Airways and Royal Air Maroc , all of which use Terminal 4), SkyTeam members Aeroméxico , China Airlines , Delta Air Lines , Middle East Airlines , Virgin Atlantic , and several long haul unaffiliated carriers. British Airways also operates several flights from this terminal, as do Iberia and Vueling . Opened in 1986, Terminal 4 has 22 gates . It

1022-643: Is no obligation to operate, and therefore published opening times are not required. In 2001, the airfield saw the launch of the Airfisch 8 ground effect vehicle , designed to fly only 0.1 to 2.5 metres (3.9  inches to 8  feet 2.4 inches) above the water's surface. Previously been used by the Royal Canadian Army from 1953 to 1971, in the latter part of the Cold War (from 1971 until mid-1994), 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (3 AAC) of

1095-490: Is primarily used by Star Alliance airlines (consolidating the airlines under Star Alliance's co-location policy "Move Under One Roof"). The terminal is also used by a few non-aligned airlines. Terminal 2 is one of the two terminals that operate UK and Irish domestic flights. Although Scandinavian Airlines is now part of the SkyTeam alliance as of 1 September, 2024, it still uses Terminal 2. The original Terminal 2 opened as

1168-751: Is shared by civilian and military users. Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt , Germany, for instance, has been assigned ICAO code EDDF while Rhein-Main Air Base was assigned ICAO code EDAF until its closure. Sion Airport in Switzerland has code LSGS while its military facilities have the ICAO code LSMS. Brussels Airport in Brussels , Belgium, has the ICAO code EBBR for its civilian facilities, and Melsbroek Air Base has been assigned ICAO code EBMB, even though

1241-652: Is situated to the south of the southern runway next to the cargo terminal and is connected to Terminals 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Cargo Tunnel . The terminal has an area of 105,481 m (1,135,390 sq ft) and is now home to the SkyTeam alliance; except Scandinavian Airlines which uses Terminal 2, and China Airlines , Aeroméxico , Delta Air Lines , Middle East Airlines , and Virgin Atlantic which use Terminal 3 - Oneworld carriers Malaysia Airlines , Qatar Airways , Royal Air Maroc , and Gulf Air and to most unaffiliated carriers. It has undergone

1314-577: Is the main international airport serving London , the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom . It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others being Gatwick , Stansted , Luton , City and Southend ). The airport is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings . In 2023, Heathrow was the busiest airport in Europe ,

1387-626: The Airports Commission , an independent commission chaired by Sir Howard Davies to examine various options for increasing capacity at UK airports. In July 2015, the commission backed a third runway at Heathrow, which the government approved in October 2016. However, the Court of Appeal rejected this plan, on the basis that the government failed to consider climate change and the environmental impact of aviation . On 16 December 2020,

1460-477: The British Army was based here. 3 AAC operated Westland Scout AH1 , Westland Gazelle AH1 , and Westland Lynx AH1 and AH7 helicopters. AAC units based there included: 653 , 654 , 660 , 662 , and 663 squadrons. Following the drawdown of British Forces Germany (BFG), 3 Regiment Army Air Corps subsequently relocated to Wattisham Airfield , Suffolk, England. The length of the airfield main runway

1533-606: The Jezero Crater on Mars is assigned the special ICAO code JZRO. Codes beginning with I (Ixx and Ixxx) are often used for navigational aids such as radio beacons, while the Q code is reserved for international radiocommunications and non-geographical special use. In Russia , Latin letter X, or its Morse / Baudot Cyrillic equivalent Ь , are used to designate government, military, and experimental aviation airfields in internal airfield codes similar in structure and purpose to ICAO codes but not used internationally. ZZZZ

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1606-622: The M25 motorway . The airport is located within the Hayes and Harlington parliamentary constituency. As the airport is located west of London and as its runways run east–west, an aircraft's landing approach is usually directly over the Greater London Urban Area when the wind has a westerly component — as it often has. The airport forms part of a travel to work area consisting of (most of) Greater London, and neighbouring parts of

1679-691: The UK Supreme Court lifted the ban on the third runway expansion, allowing the construction plan to go ahead. Until it was required to sell Gatwick and Stansted Airports, Heathrow Airport Holdings, owned mostly by FGP and Qatar Investment Authority and CDPQ held a dominant position in the London aviation market and has been heavily regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as to how much it can charge airlines to land. The annual increase in landing charge per passenger

1752-421: The fourth-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic and the second-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic . As of 2023, Heathrow is the airport with the most international connections in the world. Heathrow was founded as a small airfield in 1930 but was developed into a much larger airport after World War II . It lies 14 miles (23 kilometres ) west of Central London on

1825-475: The Airbus A380; Qatar Airways operates regular A380 flights. Terminal 5 lies between the northern and southern runways at the western end of the Heathrow site and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008, 19 years after its inception. It opened to the public on 27 March 2008, and British Airways and its partner company Iberia have exclusive use of this terminal, which has 50   gates, including three hardstands. The first passenger to enter Terminal 5

1898-486: The Annual World Airport Awards. The main terminal building (Concourse A) has an area of 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft) while Concourse B covers 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft). It has 60 aircraft stands and capacity for 30   million passengers annually as well as more than 100   shops and restaurants. It is also home to British Airways' Flagship lounge,

1971-552: The Concorde Room, alongside four further British Airways branded lounges. One of those lounges is the British Airways Arrivals Lounge which is located land-side. A further building, designated Concourse D and of similar size to Concourse C, may yet be built to the east of the existing site, providing up to another 16   stands. Following British Airways' merger with Iberia , this may become

2044-610: The Europa Building in 1955 and was the airport's oldest terminal. It had an area of 49,654 m (534,470 sq ft) and was designed to handle around 1.2   million passengers annually. In its final years, it accommodated up to 8   million. A total of 316   million passengers passed through the terminal in its lifetime. The building was demolished in 2010, along with the Queens Building which had housed airline company offices. Terminal 3 opened as

2117-1110: The Flugsportgemeinschaft Soest e.V (Soest Flying Club) operating powered aircraft and gliders, and the Fallschirmsportclub Soest-Bad Sassendorf e.V (Soest-Bad Sassendorf Skydiving Club). There is also a gyrocopter flying school operating here, run by the Flugdienst Sauerland . Flying is usually on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays (occasionally also on normal business days), weather permitting. The gliding season runs regularly from late March or early April to late October or early November. Powered flight takes place year-round. The small airfield also holds flying days where aerobatics and stunts are presented by professional pilots and aerobatic pilots. International Civil Aviation Organization airport code The recommendations for ICAO airport codes were adopted on 24 March 1959, and came into force on 1 October

2190-430: The ICAO code indicate the country; the remaining letters identify the airport. ICAO codes are used partly for geographical context. For example, the ICAO code for Heathrow International Airport in London, is EGLL, with its first letters reflecting that it is based in the United Kingdom . On the other hand, IATA codes do not provide geographic reference. For example, LHR, representing Heathrow, does not enable one to deduce

2263-529: The Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 to handle flight departures for long-haul routes for foreign carriers to the United States and Asia. At this time the airport had a direct helicopter service to central London from the gardens on the roof of the terminal building. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building. Other facilities added included

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2336-491: The UK Government continued to develop the site as a civil airport. The airport was opened on 25 March 1946 as London Airport. The airport was renamed Heathrow Airport in the last week of September 1966, to avoid confusion with the other two airports which serve London, Gatwick and Stansted . The design for the airport was by Sir Frederick Gibberd . He set out the original terminals and central-area buildings, including

2409-470: The UK's first moving walkways . In 2006, the new £105   million Pier 6 was completed to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo; Emirates and Qantas operate regular flights from Terminal 3 using the Airbus A380. Redevelopment of Terminal 3's forecourt by the addition of a new four-lane drop-off area and a large pedestrianised plaza, complete with a canopy to the front of the terminal building,

2482-559: The US and UK signed a new US-UK Air Transport Agreement in November 2020 incorporating the essential elements of Open Skies, which came into effect in March 2021. The airport was criticised in 2007 for overcrowding and delays; according to Heathrow Airport Holdings, Heathrow's facilities were originally designed to accommodate 55   million passengers annually. The number of passengers using

2555-701: The US. In 1991, Pan Am and TWA sold their rights to United Airlines and American Airlines respectively, while Virgin Atlantic was added to the list of airlines allowed to operate on these routes. The Bermuda II Air Service Agreement was superseded by a new " open skies " agreement that was signed by the United States and the European Union on 30 April 2007 and came into effect on 30 March 2008. Shortly afterwards, additional US airlines, including Northwest Airlines , Continental Airlines , US Airways and Delta Air Lines started services to Heathrow after previously having to use Gatwick Airport . Following Brexit ,

2628-483: The United Kingdom, but nearby civilian Port Stanley Airport is assigned SFAL, consistent with South America . Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe. Kosovo is assigned the code BKxx grouping it with Greenland and Iceland rather than its geographical neighbors which have Lxxx (described below). Jerusalem International Airport

2701-426: The air, almost all of the original runways can still be seen, incorporated into the present system of taxiways. North of the northern runway and the former taxiway and aprons, now the site of extensive car parks, is the entrance to the access tunnel and the site of Heathrow's unofficial " gate guardian ". For many years the home of a 40% scale model of a British Airways Concorde , G-CONC; the site has been occupied by

2774-458: The aircraft to their final approach, merging aircraft from the four holds into a single stream of traffic, sometimes as close as 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) apart. Considerable use is made of continuous descent approach techniques to minimise the environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night. Once an aircraft is established on its final approach, control is handed over to Heathrow Tower. When runway alternation

2847-422: The airport reached a record 70   million in 2012. In 2007 the airport was voted the world's least favourite, alongside Chicago O'Hare , in a TripAdvisor survey. However, the opening of Terminal 5 in 2008 has relieved some pressure on terminal facilities, increasing the airport's terminal capacity to 90   million passengers per year. A tie-up is also in place with McLaren Applied Technologies to optimise

2920-423: The airport, and passengers who refuse to use them are required to submit to a hand search in a private room. The scanners display passengers' bodies as cartoon figures, with indicators showing where concealed items may be. For many decades Heathrow had a reputation for theft from baggage by baggage handlers. This led to the airport being nicknamed "Thiefrow", with periodic arrests of baggage handlers. Following

2993-611: The boundaries of the London Borough of Hillingdon , and under the Twickenham postcode area , with the postcode TW6. It is surrounded by the villages of Sipson , Harlington , Harmondsworth , and Longford to the north and the neighbourhoods of Cranford and Hatton to the east. To the south lie Feltham , Bedfont and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Slough , Horton and Windsor in Berkshire by

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3066-547: The centre (e.g. Camborne Road). The top cargo export destinations include the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates handling 1.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2022. The top products exported were books, salmon and medicine. Aircraft destined for Heathrow are usually routed to one of four holding points . Air traffic controllers at Heathrow Approach Control (based in Swanwick, Hampshire ) then guide

3139-497: The charges for landing at Heathrow are determined by the CAA and Heathrow Airport Holdings, the allocation of landing slots to airlines is carried out by Airport Co-ordination Limited (ACL). Until 2008, air traffic between Heathrow and the United States was strictly governed by the countries' bilateral Bermuda II treaty. The treaty originally allowed only British Airways, Pan Am and TWA to fly from Heathrow to designated gateways in

3212-433: The existing paths which were spread out. The zones used alternated weekly, meaning residents in the "no-fly" areas received respite from aircraft noise for set periods. However, it was concluded that some residents in other areas experienced more noise as a consequence of the trial and that it should therefore not be taken forward in its current form. Heathrow received more than 25,000 noise complaints in just three months over

3285-536: The first six weeks ( United Airlines ' transatlantic flights) to avoid the opening problems seen at Terminal 5. On 4 June 2014, United became the first airline to move into Terminal 2 from Terminals 1 and 4 followed by All Nippon Airways , Air Canada and Air China from Terminal 3. Air New Zealand , Asiana Airlines , Croatia Airlines , LOT Polish Airlines , South African Airways , and TAP Air Portugal moved in on 22 October 2014. Flights using Terminal 2 primarily originate from northern Europe or western Europe. It

3358-465: The four main holds. The following four stacks are currently in place: In high-traffic situations, air traffic controllers can opt to use a number of RNAV STARs either to send traffic to a non-standard stack or to move traffic from one stack to another. These are not allowed to be used for flight planning and will be assigned by ATC tactically. In September 2012, the British government established

3431-446: The general procedure, reducing delays and pollution. With only two runways operating at over 98% of their capacity, Heathrow has little room for more flights, although the use of larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 has allowed some increase in passenger numbers. It is difficult for existing airlines to obtain landing slots to enable them to increase their services from the airport, or for new airlines to start operations. To increase

3504-605: The location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty; it is William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania in the United States . There are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code that have been historically for political or administrative reasons. RAF Mount Pleasant air base in the Falkland Islands , for instance, is assigned the ICAO code EGYP as though it were in

3577-441: The name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes (in the broad sense) have ICAO codes than IATA codes, which are sometimes assigned to railway stations as well. The selection of ICAO codes is partly delegated to authorities in each country, while IATA codes, which have no geographic structure, must be decided centrally by IATA. The first one or two letters of

3650-532: The nominated departure runway, to help reduce airborne delays and to position landing aircraft closer to their terminal, reducing taxi times. Night-time flights at Heathrow are subject to restrictions . Between 23:00 and 04:00, the noisiest aircraft (rated QC /8 and QC/16) cannot be scheduled for operation. Also, during the night quota period (23:30–06:00) there are four limits: A trial of "noise-relief zones" ran from December 2012 to March 2013, which concentrated approach flight paths into defined areas compared with

3723-402: The number of flights, Heathrow Airport Holdings has proposed using the existing two runways in 'mixed mode' whereby aircraft would be allowed to take off and land on the same runway. This would increase the airport's capacity from its current 480,000 movements per year to as many as 550,000 according to former British Airways CEO Willie Walsh . Heathrow Airport Holdings has also proposed building

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3796-468: The original control tower and the multi-faith Chapel of St George's. Heathrow Airport is used by over 89 airlines flying to 214 destinations in 84 countries. The airport is the primary hub of British Airways and is a base for Virgin Atlantic . It has four passenger terminals (numbered 2 to 5) and a cargo terminal. In 2021 Heathrow served 19.4 million passengers, of which 17 million were international and 2.4 million domestic. The busiest year ever recorded

3869-400: The other. To further reduce noise nuisance, the use of runways 27R and 27L is swapped at 15:00 each day if the wind is from the west. When landings are easterly there is no alternation; 09L remains the landing runway and 09R the takeoff runway due to the legacy of the now rescinded Cranford Agreement , pending taxiway works to allow the roles to be reversed. Occasionally, landings are allowed on

3942-427: The pandemic. However, all American flights, except JFK, have returned to Terminal 3. China Southern Airlines used Terminal 5 due to the pandemic until it was relocated to Terminal 4 in November 2022. Built for £4.3   billion, the terminal consists of a four-story main terminal building (Concourse A) and two satellite buildings linked to the main terminal by an underground people mover transit system. Concourse A

4015-416: The pattern closest to their arrival route. They can be visualised as a helix in the sky. Each stack descends in 1,000 feet (305 m) intervals from 16,000 feet (4,877 m) down to 8,000 feet (2,438 m). Aircraft hold between 7,000 and 15,000 feet (2,134 and 4,572 m) at 1,000-foot intervals. If these holds become full, aircraft are held at more distant points before being cleared onward to one of

4088-415: The poorer performers among the 50 busiest airlines and the emphasis on relative rather than absolute performance, so an airline could well improve its "Fly Quiet" score quarter-on-quarter even if its environmental performance had in fact worsened over the period. In October 2024, Heathrow finally reinstated the programme, rebadged as “Fly Quieter & Greener”. Two more environmental benchmarks were added to

4161-408: The prayer room. The airport has its resident press corps, consisting of six photographers and one TV crew, serving all the major newspapers and television stations around the world. Most of Heathrow's internal roads’ names are coded by their first letter: N in the north (e.g. Newall Road), E in the east (e.g. Elmdon Road), S in the south (e.g. Stratford Road), W in the west (e.g. Walrus Road), C in

4234-799: The previous seven, but in all other respects the aforementioned deficiencies of the original scheme remain. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic Heathrow has seen a large increase in cargo-only flights, not only by already established carriers at the airport operating cargo-only flights using passenger aircraft but also by several cargo-only airlines. Inbound aircraft to London Heathrow Airport typically follow one of several Standard Arrival Routes (STARs). The STARs each terminate at one of four different VOR installations , and these also define four "stacks" where aircraft can be held if necessary until they are cleared to begin their approach to land. Stacks are sections of airspace where inbound aircraft will normally use

4307-510: The same year. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes , the latter of which have three letters and are generally used for airline timetables , reservations, and baggage tags. For example, the IATA code for London 's Heathrow Airport is LHR and its ICAO code is EGLL. IATA codes are commonly seen by passengers and the general public on flight-tracking services such as FlightAware . In general IATA codes are usually derived from

4380-402: The shape of a hexagram with the permanent passenger terminal in the middle and the older terminal along the north edge of the field; two of its runways would always be within 30° of the wind direction. As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has only two parallel runways running east–west. These are extended versions of the two east–west runways from the original hexagram. From

4453-716: The style LFddnn , where dd indicates the department while nn is a sequential counter. The French Federation of Ultralight Motorized Gliders was formally named the keeper of these codes. Aerodrome de Torreilles in France, for instance, has code LF6651. In Antarctica many aerodromes have pseudo ICAO-codes with AT and two digits, while others have proper codes from countries performing air control such as NZ for New Zealand . Heathrow International Airport Heathrow Airport ( / ˌ h iː θ ˈ r oʊ , ˈ h iː θ r oʊ / ), called London Airport until 1966 ( IATA : LHR , ICAO : EGLL ), and now known as London Heathrow,

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4526-554: The summer of 2016, but around half were made by the same ten people. In 2017, Heathrow introduced "Fly Quiet & Green", a quarterly published league table (suspended in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic) that awards points to the 50 busiest airlines at the airport, ostensibly based on their performance relative to each other across a range of seven environmental benchmarks, such as NO x emissions. Heathrow has acknowledged, but not attempted to refute, criticism over discrepancies and

4599-407: The surrounding Home Counties . Heathrow Airport began in 1929 as a small airfield ( Great West Aerodrome ) on land southeast of the hamlet of Heathrow from which the airport takes its name. At that time the land consisted of farms, market gardens and orchards ; there was a "Heathrow Farm" approximately where the modern Terminal 2 is situated, a "Heathrow Hall" and a "Heathrow House." This hamlet

4672-476: The two airports share runways and ground and air control facilities. In small countries like Belgium or the Netherlands, almost all aerodromes have an ICAO code. For larger countries like the UK or Germany this is not feasible, given the limited number of letter codes. Some countries have addressed this issue by introducing a scheme of sub-ICAO aerodrome codes; France, for example, assigns pseudo ICAO codes in

4745-466: The widespread disruption caused by reports of drone sightings at Gatwick Airport , and a subsequent incident at Heathrow, a drone-detection system was installed airport-wide to attempt to combat disruption caused by the illegal use of drones. The airport's newest terminal, officially known as the Queen's Terminal, was opened on 4 June 2014 and has 24 gates. Designed by Spanish architect Luis Vidal , it

4818-408: Was 2019 when 80.9 million passengers travelled through the airport. Heathrow is the UK's largest port by value with a network of over 218 destinations worldwide. The busiest single destination in passenger numbers is New York, with over three   million passengers flying between Heathrow and JFK Airport in 2021. In the 1950s, Heathrow had six runways, arranged in three pairs at different angles in

4891-425: Was a UK ex-pat from Kenya who passed through security at 04:30 on the day. He was presented with a boarding pass by British Airways CEO Willie Walsh for the first departing flight, BA302 to Paris. During the two weeks after its opening, operations were disrupted by problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with insufficient testing and staff training, which caused over 500 flights to be cancelled. Terminal 5

4964-691: Was assigned both LLJR (its Israeli persona) as well as OJJR (its Jordanian persona), but the airport itself fell into disuse. In the contiguous United States and Canada, many airports have ICAO codes that are simply copies of their three-letter IATA codes, with the geographical prefix added on (e.g., YEG and CYEG both refer to Edmonton International Airport , while IAD and KIAD both refer to Washington Dulles International Airport ). This similarity does not extend to Alaska (PAxx), Hawaii (PHxx), or U.S. territories. Kahului Airport on Maui , for instance, has an IATA code of OGG and an ICAO code of PHOG. ICAO airport codes do not begin with I or J or X or Q, though

5037-552: Was built on the site that had been occupied by the original Terminal 2 and the Queens Building. The main complex was completed in November 2013 and underwent six months of testing before opening to passengers. It includes a satellite pier (T2B), a 1,340-space car park, and a cooling station to generate chilled water. There are 52 shops and 17 bars and restaurants. The airlines moved from their original locations over six months, with only 10% of flights operating from there in

5110-488: Was capped at inflation minus 3% until 1 April 2003. From 2003 to 2007 charges increased by inflation plus 6.5% per year, taking the fee to £9.28 per passenger in 2007. In March 2008, the CAA announced that the charge would be allowed to increase by 23.5% to £12.80 from 1 April 2008 and by inflation plus 7.5% for each of the following four years. In April 2013, the CAA announced a proposal for Heathrow to charge fees calculated by inflation minus 1.3%, continuing until 2019. Whilst

5183-605: Was completed in 2007. These improvements were intended to improve passengers' experience, reduce traffic congestion and improve security. As part of this project, Virgin Atlantic was assigned its dedicated check-in area, known as 'Zone A', which features a large sculpture and atrium. As of 2013 , Terminal 3 has an area of 98,962 m (1,065,220 sq ft) with 28 gates, and in 2011 it handled 19.8   million passengers on 104,100   flights. Most flights from Terminal 3 are long-haul flights from North America, Asia and other foreign countries other than Europe. Terminal 3

5256-476: Was introduced, aircraft generated significantly more noise on departure than when landing, so a preference for westerly operations during daylight was introduced, which continues to this day. In this mode, aircraft take off towards the west and land from the east over London, thereby minimising the impact of noise on the most densely populated areas. Heathrow's two runways generally operate in segregated mode, whereby landings are allocated to one runway and takeoffs to

5329-456: Was largely along a country lane (Heathrow Road), which ran roughly along the east and south edges of the present central terminals area. Development of the whole Heathrow area as a much larger airport began in 1944 during World War II . It was intended for long-distance military aircraft bound for the Far East. By the time some of the airfield's runways were usable, World War II had ended, and

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