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About LHR Airport
As the world's busiest international airport, London Heathrow serves over 180 destinations in more than 90 countries. Arriving, departing or connecting, you'll find everything here to make your journey easy and enjoyable.
Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA, which also owns/operates six other UK airports and is itself owned by an international consortium led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group. Heathrow is the primary hub of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic and a major hub for bmi.
Located 15 miles (24 km) west of Central London, England, Heathrow has two parallel main runways running east-west and five terminals. Terminal 5 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on the 14 March 2008 and opened to passengers on 27 March 2008. Construction of Heathrow East to replace Terminal 2 and The Queens Building is planned to start in 2008 and be completed by 2012, and Terminals 3 and 4 will be refurbished during this period. In November 2007 a consultation process began for the building of a new third runway. Heathrow Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
Heathrow Airport is used by over 90 airlines which fly to 170 destinations worldwide. Of Heathrow's 67 million annual passengers, 11% travel to UK destinations, 43% are short-haul international travellers, and 46% are long-haul. The busiest single destination in terms of passenger numbers is New York, with over 3.4 million passengers travelling between Heathrow and JFK / Newark airports in 2006. The airport has five passenger terminals (Terminals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) and a cargo terminal. Terminal 5 opened to passengers on 27 March 2008 and will be fully completed with the opening of its second satellite building in 2010.
Originally, Heathrow had six runways, arranged in three pairs at different angles, with the passenger terminal in the centre. With growth in the required length for runways, Heathrow now has just two parallel runways running east-west. Runway 23, a short runway for use in strong south-westerly winds, was decommissioned in 2005 and now forms part of a taxiway. The Department for Transport has issued a 'consultation document' in which one option is the construction of a third parallel east-west runway for frequent use, involving the demolition of residential areas.
In 2006, the new £105 million Pier 6 was completed at Heathrow's Terminal 3 in order to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo, providing four new aircraft stands. Other modifications totalling in excess of £340 million have also been carried out across the airfield in readiness for the Airbus A380, and the newly opened Terminal 5 is also fully compatible with the A380. The first A380 test flight into Heathrow took place on 18 May 2006, but following delays to the aircraft's production, scheduled services did not commence from Heathrow until 18 March 2008, when Singapore Airlines flight SQ308 touched down from Singapore carrying 470 passengers, marking the first ever European commercial flight by the Airbus A380. A new 87 metres (285 ft) high £50 million air traffic control tower entered service on 21 April 2007, and was officially opened on 13 June 2007 by Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander.
Heathrow Airport has Anglican, Catholic, Free Church, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Jewish Chaplains. There is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal, in addition to St. George's Interdenominational Chapel which is located in an underground bunker adjacent to the old Control Tower, where Christian services take place. The chaplains organise and lead prayers at certain times in the prayer room. There is an Anglican Service every Tuesday and Wednesday, daily Catholic Mass and Free Church prayers in the Chapel.
Heathrow's facilities were designed to accommodate either 45 or 55 million passengers annually according to BAA (55 million the figure presented to the T5 Inquiry, 45 million the figure used for the consultation into the third runway). With numbers now approaching 70 million and runway utilisation averaging 98%, it is difficult for existing airlines to obtain landing slots to enable them to increase their services from the airport, or for new airlines to start operations.
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