London Heathrow Airport facts for kids

Quick facts for kids London Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Terminal 5 building
IATA: LHR ICAO: EGLL WMO: 03772
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	BAA Limited
Operator	Heathrow Airport Limited
Location	Hillingdon, London, United Kingdom
Hub for	British Airways
Elevation AMSL	83 ft / 25 m
Website	www.heathrowairport.com
Map
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Runway
Runway Length Surface m ft 09L/27R 3,901 12,799 Grooved Asphalt 09R/27L 3,660 12,008 Grooved asphalt
Statistics (2011+2010)
Passengers 65,881,660 Passenger change 09-10 7.7% (2,011) Aircraft movements 454,823 Movements change 09-10 2.5% (2,010)
Sources: UK AIP at NATS and EUROCONTROL Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority

Queue of aircraft for take-off at London Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport, Terminal 3

London Heathrow Airport, often just called Heathrow, is the biggest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It is also the busiest airport in Europe for people traveling. More international passengers fly through Heathrow than any other airport in the world.

Heathrow is located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) west of Central London, England. It is a major hub for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The airport is owned and run by Heathrow Airport Limited.

About Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport has two main runways that run east to west. It also has five large terminals. The entire airport covers an area of about 12.14 square kilometers (4.69 square miles).

New Terminals and Upgrades

Terminal 5 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on March 14, 2008. It started welcoming passengers on March 27, 2008.

Plans were made to build "Heathrow East" to replace Terminal 2 and the Queens Building. This project was expected to finish by 2012. During this time, Terminals 3 and 4 were also updated. In 2007, discussions began about building a new third runway to help with more flights.

Heathrow Airport has a special license from the CAA. This license allows planes to fly there for public travel and for flight training.

How Runways Are Used

Heathrow Airport uses two main runways for flights. These are:

• Northern runway (called 09L/27R)
• Southern runway (called 09R/27L)

Currently, one runway is used for planes taking off, and the other is used for planes landing. The airport switches which runway is used for landing every 12 hours. This helps to reduce noise for people living nearby. In the future, the airport might use both runways for both taking off and landing. This would allow even more planes to use the airport.

Images for kids

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  A Qantas Boeing 747-400 on approach to London Heathrow runway 27L

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  Aerial photo of Heathrow Airport from the 1950s, before the terminals were built

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  Heathrow in 2009, much expanded from its original layout.

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  Central waiting area in Terminal 5

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  Concorde G-BOAB in storage at Heathrow

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  Heathrow's control tower with a departing Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 in the background.

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  British Airways aircraft at Terminal 5C

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  Terminal 2 central departures area

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  Terminal 4 bird's-eye view

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  Terminal 5 bird's-eye view

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  Development of passenger numbers, aircraft movements and air freight between 1986 and 2014

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  The Compass Centre, the head office of Heathrow Airport Holdings

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  Heathrow Airport tube and rail stations (Note: The map is outdated as TfL Rail is now the Elizabeth Line.)

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  Heathrow Express train at London Paddington

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  Terminal 5 airside Transit System

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  Entrance at the southern end of the M4 Motorway spur, showing a scale model of Concorde, replaced since 2008 by the Emirates A380 scale model.

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  British Airways aircraft queuing for take-off

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  One of the transport projects being considered is the Western Rail Approach to Heathrow

See also

In Spanish: Aeropuerto de Londres-Heathrow para niños