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UK. Heathrow Airport Terminal 1 closes to passengers this evening after 47 years, with most flights now having transferred to the new T2.
The final departure will be a British Airways flight to Hanover, leaving on Monday evening. British Airways (formally BEA) was also the first airline to operate from the terminal in May 1968.
Heathrow Airport said that the terminal closure will “make way for improved service and way finding around the airport and eventually an extension of the new Terminal 2 will take its place”. If the government supports a third runway at Heathrow then Terminal 2 will be extended further.
Terminal 1 was the biggest short-haul terminal of its kind in Western Europe and handled nine million passengers a year at full capacity. In the last few weeks, the terminal has been home to just 17 flights (all operated by British Airways) and around 1,700 passengers a day as airlines were phased out of the terminal.
Heathrow CEO John Holland Kaye said; “The closure of Terminal 1 marks another important milestone in the transformation of Heathrow. Terminal 1 has served Britain well for nearly 50 years, but will soon make way for the expansion of Terminal 2, giving Britain a world class airport that we can all be proud of.”
The move is part of Heathrow’s £11 billion investment that has included Terminal 5 A, B and C, a new control tower, a refurbishment of Terminals 3 and 4, and last year the new Terminal 2A and B.
The opening of Terminal 5 in March 2008 created the opportunity for a modern terminal to replace terminals 1 and 2. In future, Heathrow plans to extend Terminal 2 over the site of the existing Terminal 1, providing enough capacity to eventually replace Terminal 3.
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Terminal 1 opened in 1968; its closure paves the way for a further extension of T2 |
