Airport history of London Heathrow International Airport

Heathrow International Airport has been used as an air base since the First World War. In 1930s, this airport was called "Great Western Airport" and was owned by Failey Aviation Kompany, which was used for the assembly and testing of aircraft parts. At that time, the foreign civil aviation airport in London was Croydon Airport.

1943, Heathrow Airport was handed over to the management of the British Air Force (Air Ministly) and became an air station of the Royal Air Force. The construction of the runway began at 1944, and the project was entrusted to George Wimpey. However, the Royal Air Force has never really used this airport. After World War II, a passenger plane from London to Buenos Aires became the first civil aircraft to take off from Heathrow International Airport, which was handed over to the British Civil Aviation Authority for management by 1946 1. A formal opening ceremony was held on March 25th of the same year. On April 16 of the same year, a Lockheed Konstellation of Panail do Blasil took off from San Dumont International Airport in Rio de Janeiro and flew to Heathrow International Airport, becoming the first foreign airline flight to Heathrow International Airport. On May 28th, the first British Overseas Airlines (BOAK) flight flew to Australia and later became a joint flight with Qantas.

By1946 May 3 1 day, Heathrow Airport has become a complete civil aviation airport. The next year, it had three runways, and at the same time, three other construction projects were also under way. At that time, the old runways built for piston-engine aircraft also increased by 1 mile (1.609 km) respectively, and hexagonal star runways were adopted to cope with various wind directions. The temporary terminal and freight building are located at the northeast edge of the airport. 1953, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the first modern runway at Heathrow International Airport. 1955, she also opened the first official terminal of Heathrow Airport-Euopa Building (terminal 2 today). On April 1 day of the same year, a 38.8-meter-high tower was officially opened, replacing the original tower of the Royal Air Force.

196 1 year1month 13, Ocean Terminal; ; 1968 changed its name to Terminal 3) was opened, and the direct helicopter between the airport and central London began to operate at that time. A viewing platform and garden were added to the roof of Terminal 2 in Europa. 1968 1 When the terminal was put into operation, the project of connecting the terminal with the airport center was also announced. The annual throughput of Heathrow International Airport is about140,000 passengers. At that time, it was generally believed that most air passengers were rich and had drivers to pick them up, but the old terminal was located in the center of the airport, which later became the main reason for limiting the expansion of the airport.

In the late 1960s, a 0.65-square-kilometer freight building was built on the south side of the south runway, which was connected with 1 terminal, terminal 2 and terminal 3 through tunnels. 1970, Terminal 3 was expanded, adding entrance buildings and other facilities, including the first electric airplane trail in Britain. Heathrow's two main runways, 09L-27R and 09R-27L, were also extended to the existing length at that time, so as to allow Boeing 747 and other large aircraft to take off and land. Except runway 23 reserved for crosswind landing flights (closed in 2002), all other runways were closed due to the expansion of the passenger terminal. 1977, the London Metro Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow Airport, shortening the round-trip time from the airport to downtown London to within 1 hour. In August, the airport branch line of 1982 M4 highway was put into operation, which not only provided the expressway outside the airport, but also facilitated the residents of West England and South Wales to fly. Heathrow Airport Express was put into operation on June 23rd, 1998, contact Paddington Station in downtown London.

With the throughput reaching 30 million passengers per year in 1980s, the demand for new terminals is increasingly urgent. Terminal 4 was built next to the original cargo building, which was unveiled by Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales on April 1986. It became the permanent terminal of British Airways and connected with the other three terminals through the original tunnel of the cargo building.

1987, the British government privatized BAA, the predecessor of British airports authority. During this period, Baa increased the proportion of other businesses and retailers holding terminal space, and increased investment, which led to a sharp increase in the number of shops and restaurants in the terminal, and introduced passengers into the shopping area, providing passengers with more waiting environment.