London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in London, England, is the largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It is the world's third busiest airport for passenger traffic and it handles more international passenger traffic than any other airport in the world. Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA, which also owns and operates six other UK airports. BAA is itself owned by an international consortium led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group. Heathrow is the primary hub of British Airways, bmi and Virgin Atlantic.

Located west of Central London, England, Heathrow has two parallel main runways running east-west and five terminals. The site covers 12.14 square kilometres (4.69 square miles). Terminal 5 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March, 2008 and opened to passengers on 27 March, 2008. Construction of Heathrow East, to replace Terminal 2 and The Queen's Building, began in 2008, and is expected to be completed by 2012. Terminals 3 and 4 will also 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.

Location

Heathrow is located west of central London, England, near the southern end of the London Borough of Hillingdon and in the historic county of Middlesex. The airport stands on a parcel of land that was designated part of the London Metropolitan Green Belt. To the north, the airport is surrounded by the built-up areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford..

The airport's location to the west of London, and the east-west orientation of its runways, means that airliners usually approach to land directly over the city. Other leading European airports, such as those at Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris, are located north or south of their cities, in order to minimise the overflying problem. Another disadvantage of the site is that it is low-lying, at above sea level, and is therefore prone to fog.Fact: date=January 2008

Heathrow is one of six airports serving the London area, along with Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Southend and City although only Heathrow and City Airports are located within Greater London.

1930s and 1940s

Aviation at the location of what is now Heathrow Airport began during World War I, when the site was used as a military airfield. By the 1930s the airfield, then known as the Great Western Aerodrome, was privately owned by Fairey Aviation Company, and was used for aircraft assembly and testing. Commercial traffic used Croydon Airport, which was London's main airport at the time.