London Heathrow Images

Images of Britain: London Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport (LHR) southwest of London is Britain's busiest airport and one of the busiest in the world. Indeed in 2020, it was the world's third busiest international airport. The top three international destinations from Heathrow are New York, Dubai and Dublin.

The airport presently has two runways (with a third in the pipeline) and four passenger terminals - Terminal 2, Terminal 3, Terminal 4 and Terminal 5. Terminal 1 closed in 2015.

Terminals

London's main airport, Heathrow Airport, has 4 active passenger terminals (numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5), following the closure of Terminal 1 in 2015, following 47 years of operation. The final flight was a British Airways service to Hanover, Germany. The closure was designed to make way for the expansion of Terminal 2, after which the T1 building was subsequently retired.

Terminal 2 (The Queen's Terminal) opened in 2014 and is mainly used by Star Alliance airlines such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Aer Lingus and United Airlines.

Terminal 3 mainly handles Oneworld airlines for long-haul departures (except British Airways long-haul at T5) such as Delta, Emirates, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

Terminal 4 services SkyTeam airlines and other international carriers - Air France, KLM, Qatar Airways.

Terminal 5 is dedicated exclusively to British Airways and Iberia. It is the airport's newest terminal and opened in 2008.

Heathrow is on the London underground. There are four Piccadilly Line tube stations at the airport - Terminal 2 & 3, Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 plus Hatton Cross.

The non-stop Heathrow Express connects to London Paddington Station in 15 minutes.

Heathrow Central bus station serves terminals 2 and 3 with other smaller bus stations at both terminals 4 and 5.