FEATURE Heathrow Airport Overview Part Two

Welcome to our second part of the Heathrow Airport overview. In this part we will be looking at the safety record of the airport and its facilities as well as looking at the breakdown of each terminal building. So lets continue with the second part of the Compare Airport Parking Heathrow Airport Overview Part Two.

Firstly we will take a look at each terminal at Heathrow Airport to give you a break-down of what to see or expect at each terminal building.

Terminal 1

The history of Terminal 1 can be traced back to 1968 when it was opened. It was then opened officially by the Queen in 1969. Development of the terminal did not occur until 2005 when it was re-designed and developed with the introduction of the Eastern Extension. This extension created double the capacity of the departure lounge as well as adding extra shopping and seating spaces. Terminal 1 is responsible for a small percentage of long haul flights at the airport as well as Irish flights and some European routes.

Terminal 2

The oldest terminal building at Heathrow Airport was opened in 1955. Due to the age of the building it will be closed in late 2008 following the opening of Terminal 5 to allow construction to begin on a new terminal building - Heathrow East Terminal. Currently the building handles primarily European flights.

Terminal 3

The Terminal 3 building was officially opened in 1961 as the Oceanic Terminal in order to deal with long haul flights. When the terminal opened it also had a helicopter service that operated from the roof of the terminal building to Central London. The terminal was renamed in 1968 to Terminal 3 and then an expansion programme took place in 1970 when a new arrivals area was built. Other facilities were added at the time such as people mover systems and then a follow-up to the extension was made in 2006 with Pier 6 being constructed at cost of £105 million. This was done due to the impending arrival of the Airbus A380 'superjumbo' that required the updating of the terminal to accommodate it. More modifications are planned for the terminal over the next ten years as £1 billion has been allocated for improvements.

Terminal 4

The building of terminal 4 was away from the three previous terminals and located next to the cargo terminal at the airport. Connections to the terminal were made by the cargo tunnel that already existed. The building was officially opened in 1986 by the Prince and Princess of Wales and was also the home of British Airways. Work is due to begin soon on re-fitting the terminal building and modernising some of the interior decor.

Terminal 5

The latest terminal building at Heathrow Airport and the brand new home of British Airways. Built at a cost of £4.3 million Terminal 5 sits on the western side of the airport on the old Perry Works sewage plant. The terminal building benefits from a brand new personal rapid transport system (shown below) that consists of pods designed to whisk passengers into and away from the terminal in the minimum of time, hopefully easing congestion.

Images provided by Advanced Transport Systems Ltd. www.atsltd.co.uk

The new terminal has berths that are specifically designed for the Airbus A380 which will soon be using the new terminal building for commercial flights. British Airways are also to take delivery of the new aircraft in the next couple of years.

The brand new terminal was opened by the Queen on the 14th of March 2008 followed by being opened for passenger use on the 27th of March 2008. The first flight was from Hong Kong and was piloted by a female British Airways pilot. The opening of Terminal 5 did not go well. On the first day 34 flights were cancelled with check-in desks being suspended and problems with the new state-of-the-art baggage system. At the time British Airways claimed that staff had been encountering problems getting into work and were not able to log onto the computer systems. There was also rumour that they had not received enough training to use the computers. The congestion and frustration continued for several days and a backlog of baggage topped 20,000.

The problems at Terminal 5 seem to have been remedied for now and the terminal seems to be operating to plan, however the huge backlog of baggage is still waiting to be delivered to thousands of passengers.

 Heathrow Airport Safety Record

In its long history Heathrow Airport has only had eight notable aircraft incidents. The safety record of the UK's biggest airport is really quite exceptional and a testament to the facilities in place to ensure passenger and staff safety.

The first air crash was in 1949 and involved a Sabena Douglas DC3 Dakota crashing in fog at the airport. Three of the crew and 22 other passengers died in the incident. Since that time there have been crashes involving an Avro Vulcan, British European Airways Vickers Viking, BEA Vickers Vanguard, Boeing 707, Airspeed Ambassador, Hawker Siddley Trident and a British Airways Boeing 777. Some of the accidents have involved fatalities and some have not. The most recent incident on the 17th of January 2008 left no passengers or crew dead but was a truly strange accident.

Boeing 777 - Courtesy kpmarek

Flight BA038 was on its final approach to Heathrow Airport and about 30 seconds from touching down when the pilot reports that the engines failed to respond to requests for more power. As a result the Boeing 777 dropped considerably more quickly than expected and just cleared the fencing at the end of the airport runway missing a road by a few feet. The airliner hit the ground hard and tore off the undercarriage with the aircraft 'belly landing' on the grass and sliding onto the concrete at the edge of the runway. No passengers or crew were killed, however some sustained minor injuries as they escaped from the aircraft via the emergency slides activated by the air crew. The cause of the crash is still being investigated and has proved very difficult for the accident investigators to track down.

Terminal 5 Facilities

Terminal 1

Cash machines, many food and drink outlets, information desks, internet access (Wi-fi and fixed point), left baggage facilities, lounges, lost property, health care centre, meeting point, Bureau de change, telephone and fax facilities, porters, mail service, many retail outlets including several high-street names, spectator gallery, designated smoking areas, toilets (including disabled), showers, prayer room, luggage trolleys.

Terminal 2

Baggage enquiries desk, cash machines, Bureau de change, many food and drink outlets, information desk, information points, internet access (Wi-fi and fixed point), left luggage counter, lounges, lost property, medical centre, meeting rooms, payphones and fax facilities, porters, post service, many retail outlets including several-high street names, spectators gallery, designated smoking areas, toilets (including disabled), showers, luggage trolleys, prayer room.

Terminal 3

Baggage enquiries desk, cash machines, Bureau de change, various food and drink outlets, information desks, help points, internet access (fixed point and Wi-fi), left luggage, lounges, lost property, medical centre, meeting point, payphones and fax facilities, porters, postal system, various retail outlets including some high-street names, spectators gallery, designated smoking areas, toilets (including disabled), prayer room, luggage trolleys.

Terminal 4

Baggage enquiries desk, cash machines, Bureau de change, various food and drink outlets, information desks, help points, internet access (fixed point and Wi-fi), left luggage, lounges, lost property, medical centre, meeting point, payphones and fax facilities, porters, postal system, various retail outlets including some high-street names, spectators gallery, designated smoking areas, toilets (including disabled), prayer room, luggage trolleys.

Terminal 5

The brand new home for British Airways is a haven for shoppers with many designer shopping outlets available as well as high-class eateries. For a list of all available retailers at the airport please take a look here.

Terminal 5 benefits from some excellent places to eat, you can see the details on the official Terminal 5 website here.

Gordon Ramsay has opened his new restaurant in the terminal as well. In Terminal 5 you can eat at the following high-class eateries:

• Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay's "Plane Food" - his first airport restaurant
• Amato patisserie
• Eastern food at Wagamama
• Apostrophe's sandwich boutique
• Carluccio’s Italian food

You can find all the facilities that are available in all other Heathrow Terminal buildings in Terminal 5 with many brand new and modern features for passengers to enjoy.

We hope that out two part Heathrow Airport feature provides you with all the information you will require for your visit to the airport or you have enjoyed reading it just for interest. Next wekk we will be looking at another UK airport so be sure to check back to Compare Airport Parking.

Published by: Jon Vickery