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London Heathrow Airport facts for kids

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London Heathrow Airport
Heathrow T5.jpg
Heathrow Terminal 5 building
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner BAA Limited
Operator Heathrow Airport Limited
Location Hillingdon, London, United Kingdom
Hub for
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 Increase7.7% (2,011)
Aircraft movements 454,823
Movements change 09-10 Decrease2.5% (2,010)
Sources: UK AIP at NATS and EUROCONTROL
Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority
Queue.at.london.airport.arp
Queue of aircraft for take-off at London Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport 010
Heathrow Airport, Terminal 3

London Heathrow Airport, or Heathrow, is the main, and busiest airport serving the United Kingdom. Heathrow is also Europe's busiest airport for passenger traffic, and handles more international passenger traffic than any other airport in the world.

Heathrow is owned and operated by BAA Limited, which also owns/operates six other UK airports and is itself owned by an international group led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group. Heathrow is the main hub of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Heathrow is in the London Borough of Hillingdon, 15 miles (24 km) 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 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.

Runway use

Today, Heathrow airport uses two operation runways. These are:

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

Currently, 1 runway is used for takeoff and another used for landing, depending on the approach path used at the time. Approaching planes are normally cycled between two options at 12 hour intervals in order to reduce noise and environmental impacts for residents. In the future, BAA are considering changing to "Mixed mode" where both runways are used for landing and takeoff. This would boost space.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Aeropuerto de Londres-Heathrow para niños

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