Heathrow Aiport Continues to Set the Pace

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Heathrow Aiport Continues to Set the Pace - By: Patrick Omari, Posted on: 2008-03-27

Today is an important day in the history of Heathrow Airport. An Airbus SAS's A380 superjumbo made its first commercial landing in London today. Heathrow Airport opened in 1946 and has become the United Kingdom's largest Airport and the world's busiest international airport and is only 24km from London center. The airport currently has 5 terminals.The 5th terminal was opened by the Queen on the 5th of March 2008.

The Singapore Airlines Ltd. flight arrived in the U.K. capital at about 2:50 p.m. today, the 18th of March 2007. The Singapore Airlines is the A380's first customer having just bought 3 of these huge planes. Currently the airline flies two of the 471-seat planes between the southeast Asian city-state and Sydney, the first flight being last October. London has become the third destination. British Airways has ordered 12 A380s with the first arriving in 2012, while Sir Richard Branson's airline Virgin Atlantic will receive the first of its six A380s in 2013. A special pier has been built at Heathrow's Terminal 3 for the giant plane.

The 5th terminal, which was opened this month, was created at a cost of 4.2 billion pounds and is expected to handle more than 27 million passengers every year. The terminal is a huge space of more than 22,000 square meters. The space created is a boon to the retailers who would like to tap into the airport clientele. Planes from Heathrow fly to over 180 destinations in 90 countries worldwide with over 90 airlines. It is estimated that nearly 68 million people a year fly in and out of Heathrow. The airport was built at a difficult time during the 2nd world war as a civil airport but under the guise of a military airfield.

The airport was formally opened on 31st May 1946. To mark its opening, a British South American Airways Lancastrian aircraft took off to South America. Heathrow airport was formally handed over to the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1st January 1946. The Queen inaugurated new buildings at the Airport on 16th December 1955 thus following the footsteps of her grand father before her who opened the "tuppenny tube" in 1890. The airport has gone through a progressive expansion ever since its inception. On 16th December 1977, the Queen formally unveiled a 71 million pounds underground link from central London to Heathrow's terminals. This development was one of its kind. No other city in the world had such an infrastructure.

Heathrow airport's growth has not been incident free. It is said that during the building of the airport, the hamlets of Heathrow and Perry Oaks were completely demolished and Iron Age and Roman sites were destroyed and buried in the rubble. The Airport has seen local people and environmentalist protest and even lodging of a court case opposing its expansion. Recently four climate change protesters wrapped a banner around the tailfin protesting plans to build a third runway at the airport. They sneaked through security and made it to the hanger unnoticed.

Local people have had grievances ranging from noise to traffic jams. Villagers have often said they are being delayed in exiting the village via the Longford roundabout due to lorries backing up at the access road to the construction site. They also argue that the T5 construction team has badly positioned lighting that not only shines into villagers' homes, but also dazzles drivers on the Stanwell Moor Road and on Bath Road as they enter the village from the Longford roundabout. The most affected are residents of Longford.

The government and BAA have tried to involve local people in the expansion process. There are a number of development and education programes that the Heathrow Airport Trust has initiated as part of its cooperate responsibility. Moreover, the government has decided to ban noise increase in Heathrow Airport surrounding area. Between now and the year 2012 neither the number of flights nor the amount of noise will be allowed to increase. During the period between 230-0600 hours the noisiest types of planes are banned from landing or taking off. Heathrow was targeted in recent months by climate change protesters angry at plans to expand the airport.

In terms of development, there are many new facilities being erected around the Airport. They are creating jobs and boosting the local economy. There are some of Europe's finest in airport accommodation, hotels, secure airport parking, Inns, B&Bs and other facilities close to Heathrow Airport. As for the future of Longford, it will continue to be part of the future of Heathrow Airport.

Article Source: http://www.girlarticles.com

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Heathrow Airport Hotels and Heathrow Airport Parking.