The History of Heathrow Airport
Heathrow’s story began with the purchase of 150 acres of land by British engineer Richard Fairey, for the purpose of assembling planes and conducting tests. Let’s take a quick trip through the history of this storied airport.
Fairey’s Great West Aerodrome: A humble messenger
Set near the village of Heath Row, Fairey’s Great West Aerodrome was a modest estate with a grass runway and several rudimentary buildings. This was the forerunner to Heathrow, which, despite its small size at the beginning, would eventually become the world’s busiest international airport. Fairey operated the aerodrome smoothly for nine years, but the world was complicated in many ways at the time, with the Second World War starting on September 1, 1939, and changing the fate of the entire world to some extent.
WWII and a famous runway model
During the war, the British government requisitioned much of the land around Heath Row village in order to build a larger airfield – one that could accommodate larger aircraft carrying troops to the Far East. The area taken over by the government, however, also included Fairey’s Great Aerodrome. A control tower was built, followed 3,000-yard-long and 100-yard-wide “Star of David” runway (one yard is approximately 91 centimeters). With the end of the war in 1945, the Royal Air Force no longer needed the aerodrome, so this vast area was designated as London’s new civilian airport and officially opened on January 1, 1946, as Heathrow Airport.
First flight: Buenos Aires and beyond
The first aircraft to take off from Heathrow Airport flew to Buenos Aires. By 1951, the number of passengers had risen to nearly 800,000 so Sir Frederick Gibberd, a British architect, was commissioned to design permanent buildings for the airport. By 1969, around five million passengers were using the airport and, by the end of the 1970s, the airport was serving 27 million passengers annually.
A few interesting numbers: 15,000, 1969, 63,000
- Richard Fairey paid £15,000 for the modest 150-acre plot of land that would become Heathrow Airport.
- In its first year of operation, London’s new civil airport served 63,000 passengers. That figure rose to 796,000 by 1951.
- Terminal 1, designed by Architect Gibberd, opened in 1969.
- Heathrow Airport is home to over 90 airline companies and is currently the first stop for aircraft flying to more than 90 countries and 180 destinations.
- 2016 was a momentous year for Heathrow: The airport, one of the busiest in the world, celebrated its 70th anniversary.
- 2019 was another historic year for Heathrow Airport, with a record 80 million passengers travelling.
- Heathrow Airport has a massive 87-meter-high control tower.
Stories from Heathrow Airport: Suites, routes, and more…
- Heathrow Airport has the most flights to Dubai, followed by New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Madrid, Dublin and Doha round out the top five.
- Heathrow Airport has VIP Suites reserved for royalty and important guests. The general public is unaware of the location of these airport suites.
- Terminal 1 was opened in 1968 and closed in 2015. Terminals 2 and 5 have both been rated as Skytrax World’s Best Terminal. While all the terminals currently operating are massive, Terminal 2 is almost four times the size of Buckingham Palace.
- The 2018 film Red Sparrow, starring Jennifer Lawrence, was filmed at Heathrow Airport.
To experience this historic airport firsthand, you can visit the Heathrow Airport flight ticket link and fly to London! We wish you a safe and enjoyable flight!
