Heathrow Airport From Grass Landing Strip To International Gateway

The history of Heathrow Airport can be traced back to around 1919 when the hamlet of Heathrow was no more than an isolated row of cottages on the north western edge of Hounslow Heath.

The Great West Aerodrome (also known as Harmondsworth Aerodrome), was established in 1930 at Heathrow by the Fairey Aviation Company, for flight testing and assembly of aircraft manufactured at their factory in Hayes.

Construction of the main airport began in 1944 and in January 1946, before being completed, the airfield was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation with the name ‘London Airport’. The name of ‘Heathrow’ was not adopted until 1966. In the early years when the airport only had 2 terminals, they were called ‘Oceanic’ and ‘Europa’, today better known as Terminals 2 and 3 respectively.

The official opening of Heathrow was held on the 25th of March 1946, and the airport became fully operational for civilian use on 31 May 1946. In 1952, the ‘jet age’ arrived at Heathrow in the form of the de Havailland Comet, the world’s first turbojet aircraft that arrived on a scheduled flight from Johannesburg.

Today, Heathrow Airport is used by around 90 airlines flying to over 170 destinations around the globe. Heathrow employs around 76,000 people in its day to day operations, earning it the title of the UK’s busiest airport and the world’s fourth busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers, beaten only by Beijing International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Tokyo International Airport.

Although plans for a third 7,200ft (2,200-metre) runway and a sixth terminal building were announced in 2009, the plans where quickly dropped by the newly elected Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government after the 2010 general election in favour of constructing a new airport in the Thames Estuary rather than expanding Heathrow.

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