Essential Hotels > England > Middlesex > Heathrow

The village of Heathrow is home to the world renowned London Heathrow International Airport, one of the busiest airports on the planet and just 15 miles from central London. Positioned next to the M25 and the M4 the airport offers access to something like 90 different airlines that fly to more than 180 destinations in 90 countries; from Heathrow the rest of the world is closer than it might otherwise be. Covering a total of 4.69 square miles, Heathrow takes up a particularly large expanse in this West London pocket. Since its humble beginnings in 1930 the airport has developed and grown to a place where it transports a massive 67 million passengers annually, and further expansions and alterations are likely in the coming years. There are now five terminals thanks to the opening of the state-of-the-art Terminal 5 in 2008 although plans for another additional terminal and a third runway were abolished in 2010 when the new UK government came to power. Along with several other airports around the country BAA owns Middlesex’s Heathrow Airport.

Before the region entered into the aviation world, Heath Row was a simple hamlet with just a row of cottages. The nearby fields were turned into a makeshift military airfield during the First World War but it was not until 1930 that the makings of what would be one of the world’s foremost airports began to take shape. Richard Fairey bought the 150-acre plot of land from a vicar in 1930 and built a single grass runway and a number of buildings which were to be known as the Great West Aerodrome.

During the Second World War the land around Heath Row was used to build RAF Heston and a control tower and a ‘star of David’ shaped runway was laid out. The development was no longer needed in its planned form after the war so in 1946 the aerodrome was handed over to be used as a civil airport servicing the city of London. Ex-military marquees were used for terminals and in its first year 63,000 passengers used Heathrow Airport. By 1951 meanwhile some 796,000 passengers used the airport annually, so it was time to introduce some proper buildings. Terminal 2 opened in 1955 also known as the Europa Building while in 1961 Terminal 3, or the Oceanic Terminal, was unveiled. Then, in 1969 Terminal 1 opened; at this time there were five million passengers each year, while in 1986 Terminal 4 opened. Most recently, Terminal 5 was added to the scenario, paving the way for further international air travel.