HEATHROW AIRPORT GUIDE (LHR)

QUICK FACTS Name: Heathrow Airport IATA Code: LHR ICAO Code: EGLL Opened: 1930 Terminals: 5 Runways: 2 Destinations served:180 Passengers: 67m (2009)

HISTORY

Heathrow Airport has been efficiently connecting passengers since 1955 and is now the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger travel. Heathrow Airport and the Heathrow Airport parking facilities have been growing and expanding each year as a means of meeting the needs of the increasing number of travelers and patrons.

The Heathrow Express Train was added to the facility in 1998 creating the option of transporting customers efficiently and conveniently from the London Heathrow airport parking facilities to central London in only 15 minutes. Continuing down the line of expansion, during the year 2010 a third runway was introduced and this increased the capabilities of the London Heathrow facility to accommodate more travelers both departing and arriving.
 
Before the airport was constructed, Heathrow was simply a small isolated village.  Cottages used to exist in what is now the airport’s Terminal 3 and the Heathrow Airport parking area.  It was during World War I that this site was first used for aviation. The flat acreage of land in the village’s southeast was converted into a military airfield.  After World War I, the airfield came into the possession a private aircraft firm, the Fairey Aviation Company, which then employed it for manufacturing and testing aircraft.  During this time, commercial airlines were still using the Croydon Airport.  Apparently, the only Heathrow airport parking existing then was that which served Fairey employers. By 1943, during World War II, the site was taken over by the Royal Air Force. The Heathrow Airport parking area was then used by military trucks, particularly those belonging to the RAF.
 
After the war, the airport was controlled by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.  Civilian international flights began to make use of the site and Heathrow airport parking began to serve civilian passengers as well.  The first commercial flight that took off was destined for Buenos Aires. It was in the 1950s when infrastructural works were implemented with the objective of developing a modern airport.  While the terminals were built, the Heathrow airport parking was also improved in order to accommodate more vehicles. 
 
More expansion works were initiated in the 1970s.  These primarily focused on the construction of more terminals.  As these were completed more Heathrow airport parking facilities were also made available near the new terminals.  The privatization of Heathrow Airport, with BAA at the helm of the management, has greatly benefited the passengers. Better services and facilities were introduced, including the Heathrow airport parking areas.