London Heathrow Airport, or Heathrow is the UKs largest and busiest airport. It is located in the london Borough of Hillingdon which is 14 miles west of central london. In terms of total passenger traffic it is the worlds second busiest airport. Heathrow Airport handles more international traffic than any other airport in the world. Also in terms of passenger traffic it is the busiest airport in the European Union. In terms of traffic movements, it is the second busiest airport in the European Union. Heathrow Airport is owned and operated by BAA, who also own and operate five other UK airports.

To the north of Heathrow Airport are the areas Harlington, Harmondsworth, longford and Cranford. To the east are the areas Harlow and Hatton. To the South are East bedfont and Stanwell. To the West is Colnbrook in Berkshire, which the M25 separates from the airport.

Heathrow Airport is used by more than 90 airlines which fly to over 170 destinations worldwide. The Airport has annually 67 million passengers. 115 travel to destinations within the UK, 43% are short haul international passengers and 46% are long haul passengers. In terms of passenger numbers, the busiest single destination is New York. In 2008, 2,802,870 passengers travelled between Heathrow Airport and JFK / Newark Airports. In 2007 the figure was over 3.5 million.

Heathrow Airport has 2 parallel main runways spanning east to west and five operational Terminals. Heathrow originally had six runways, arranged in three pairs at different angles, with the passenger terminal in the centre. Heathrow now has just two parallel runways running east-west. Runway 23, a short runway for use in strong south-westerly winds, was decommissioned in 2005 and now forms part of a taxiway.

The site spans 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 sq mi). A consultation process began in November 2007 for the building of a new third runway and a sixth terminal. It was approved on 15 January 2009 by UK Government ministers.

Heathrow Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

Heathrow Airport has Anglican, Catholic, Free Church of Scotland, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh chaplains. Each terminal provides a multi faith prayer room and councelling room. St George's Interdenominational Chapel is located in an underground bunker adjacent to the old control tower, where Christian services take place. The chaplains organise and lead prayers at certain times in the prayer room.

Heathrow airport has its own resident press corps, consisting of six photographers and one TV crew, which serve all of the major newspapers and television stations around the world.

HISTORY OF HEATHROW

Before 1930:

• Before aviation started Heathrow Airport was a hamlet (a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village,) on Hounslow Heath.
• During World War I, Aviation began where Heathrow Airport is now and fields to the south east of Heathrow Hamlet were turned into a military airfield.

1930s and 1940s:

• During the 1930s the airfield was known as the Great Western Aerodrome and it was privately owned by the Fairey Aviation Company. it was used for aircraft assembly and testing. Commercial traffic used Croydon Airport which at the time was london's main airport.
• In 1943 Heathrow came under the control of the Air Ministry, to be developed as a Royal Air Force transfer station.
• In 1944 the construction of runways began. The new airport was built by Wimpey construction and Heathrow hamlet was demolished to make room for it. The Royal Airforce never used the airport.
• On 1 January 146 control was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The first civil flight was on that day to Buenos Aires via Lisbon.
• On 25 March 1946 The offical opening ceremony was performed by Lord Winster.
• On 16 April 1946 the first aircraft of a foreign airline landed at Heathrow Airport.
• On 28 May 1946 the first BOAC scheduled flight departed for Australia.
• On 31 May 1946 Heathrow opened fully for civillian use.
• By 1947 Heathrow had three runways, with three more under construction.

1950s and 1960s:

• In 1953 the first slab of the modern runway was placed by Queen Elizabeth II.
• In 1955 Queen Elizabeth II opened the Europa Building, the first permanent terminal building. It is now known as Terminal 2.
• On 1 April 1955 a new 127ft control tower was opened.
• On 13 November 1961 The Oceanic Terminal opened, to handle long haul flight departures. The oceanic Terminal was renamed Terminal 3 in 1968.
• In 1968 Termnal 1 was opened. By now, Heathrow Airport was handling 14 million passengers annually.

During the 1960s a cargo terminal was built south of the southern runway which was connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by a tunnel.

1970s to 1990s:

• In 1970 Terminal 3 was expanded with the addition of an arrivals building. Other facilities, such as the UKs first moving walkways, were also added. Heathrows two main runways were also expanced.
• In 1977 The London Underground Picadilly Line was extended from Hounslow West via Hatton Cross to Heathrow. This connected the airport to central London in under an hour.
• On 23 june 1998 Heathrow Express started operating, which provided a direct rail service to London's Paddington station via a specially constructed line.
• During the early 1980's passenger numbers continued in growth to 30 million annually which led to the need for more terminal space. Terminal 4 was constructed next to the existing cargo terminal, away from the three older terminals.
• In August 1982 the airport spur section of the M4 was opened to give the airport a direct link with the motorway and to provide motorway access to airport users from further away.
• In 1986 the M25 motorway was completed, giving a direct motorway link to much of the rest of the country.
• In April 1986 Terminal 4 was opened and became home for British Airways.
• In 1987 The UK government privatised the British Airports Authority which controls Heathrow.
• During the 1980s and 1990s BAA expanded the proportion of terminal space allocated to retailing activities, and has invested in the development of retail activity.