Heathrow Airport

!±8± Heathrow Airport

The Overwhelming Enormity of Heathrow

The sheer size of the Heathrow Airport will daunt you if you're a first-timer in London. The Heathrow Airport sprawls across some 4.7 square miles and when your plane touches down on the tarmac of the Airport, you'll have to drink in the enormity of Heathrow's proportions while still sitting belted to your seat because airport authorities in London are pretty strict and don't allow passengers to disembark at terminals unless the terminals are free from traffic and planes that have landed moments ago.

The Heathrow Airport is the most important airport of London, the second-most important airport of the city being Gatwick. The Heathrow Airport is situated in a borough named Hillingdon on the outskirts of London. Heathrow Airport is designated to be the second-most bustling airport of the world, the most bustling airport of the world being the Atlanta Hartfield Jackson International Airport of Atlanta, USA. Heathrow claims to handle more global travelers than any other airport of the planet. The Airport has undergone renovations several times since it first started operations way back in the 1930s.

The Heathrow Airport is a halting ground for more than 90 airlines that connect Heathrow to 170 global destinations. The chief airlines that operate using the Heathrow Airport as their starting or ending destination are the British Airways, the Virgin Atlantic Airways and the British Midland Airways. Heathrow handles about 70 million passengers every year. Out of this number, nearly 50% use Heathrow as a stop-over so that they might board connecting flights that take them to distant places either east of England into Asia or west of England across the Atlantic Ocean into the Americas. A sizeable chunk of the 70 million board connecting flights from Heathrow to destinations close by. And about 7 million of the 70 million land at Heathrow in order to reach places in the United Kingdom.

Get Acquainted with the Flip Side of Heathrow

Security measures are stringent at Heathrow. They have been beefed up even more after terrorism has engulfed the world since 9/11 and 7th July, 2005. The British army has been stationed at Heathrow every so often when there has been need to protect the Airport and the travelers from the acts of various miscreants and terrorists. The irony of it all is that though Heathrow has been saved from the attacks of terrorists and heinous criminals, it hasn't been spared from the mischief made by small-time thieves and robbers. Passengers have been shocked when, on reaching the conveyor belt to pick up their baggage after obtaining clearance from immigration and other checking authorities, they haven't been able to locate their luggage on the carousel. As pickpockets and thieves have flourished in Heathrow over the last few years, the airport has acquired the new and unflattering name of 'Thiefrow' for itself.

Another reason why Heathrow is getting a lot of flak from passengers as well as from the media is because the Airport has reached its bursting point. Despite being spread over several square miles of English soil, Heathrow is currently experiencing difficulty handling some 70 million travelers every year. Packed to the full and more than it can manage, Heathrow is witnessing some serious bottlenecks in the form of delayed departures and arrivals and long queues of travelers waiting to undergo checks. Planes scheduled to land at Heathrow have to frequently keep circling the London sky as often, nowadays, they aren't given permission to land because Airport officials are taking longer than ever to handle aircrafts that have landed previously and check the passengers who've landed in those aircrafts. Airport officials, it seems, can't cope with the ever-burgeoning number of passengers and aircrafts at Heathrow and are taking hours before they can complete all procedures and let incoming planes land. The Airport is thus pretty hamstrung by excessive delays that are angering the travelers. Hence, fresh revamps of the Airport terminals and grounds are in the pipeline that will hopefully ease the flow of traffic through Heathrow.

Spiritual Airport?

As Heathrow is the landing ground for globetrotters and people from various parts of the world, it's a melting pot of cultures, a potpourri of civilizations, a spectacular fusion ground of religions, ethnicities, and mores. To accommodate the personal and spiritual needs of the motley crowds who fill up Heathrow every day in teeming hundreds, Heathrow has set up a whole array of religious centers in each of its terminals. Thus, we see the presence of Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and Mohammedan priests, preachers and clerics in the precincts of Heathrow reading or saying prayers and invoking various divinities in the many prayer halls of Heathrow.

Shop till You Drop at Heathrow

Heathrow can easily be dubbed as a shopper's paradise. Heathrow boasts of hundreds of retail outlets and shops and eateries that regale the hundreds of travelers who pass in and out of the Airport every day. The Airport had invested heavily and fruitfully in retail during the 1980s and the 90s. Heathrow has now become the home of fabulous retail outlets that sell everything that is useful, handy, attractive and necessary to travelers embarking on journeys. Heathrow's current design and layout is such that passengers are compelled to walk through the shopping areas en route to the departure lounge or when coming out of the arrivals section. There are duty-free shops galore at Heathrow selling perfumes, chocolates, liquor, books, stationery and other knickknacks. It's a pleasure to visit the various retail outlets of Heathrow, stand and gaze at the bric-a-brac, the rows of foodstuffs, the toys and the souvenirs. A last-minute gift, a fountain-pen set, a novel, a memento that will always remind you of London is what you can pick from these shops before departing London, one of the world's capitals. A box of chocolates that you buy at a duty-free shop can make an excellent present for a loved one back home. On the contrary, if you've just landed at Heathrow, the shops of the Airport will give you a remarkable taste of London in their own inimitable way.

Why Heathrow Stands Out

There's something about Heathrow that distinguishes it from the other famous airports of the world. If you've been to the Changi Airport of Singapore or the Dubai International Airport, you'll notice that Heathrow is quite plain compared to these airports. While Changi takes your breath away with its never-ending lobbies and foyers, spotless and gargantuan departure halls, amazing flowers and plants and gardens that are situated within the airport premises, incredible transit areas, one of which is even filled with a swimming pool; the Dubai International Airport stuns travelers with its dazzling glitz and scintillating glamor. Next to these airports, Heathrow might seem a bit wan and old-fashioned but this is precisely what differentiates Heathrow from new-fangled, showy airports. Changi is a marvelous airport, its beauty and sophistication serving to appease the eyes as much as to fulfill utilitarian objectives. But Dubai International Airport has been accused by many of showing off more than it can afford to. In fact, the Airport came under the scanner when Dubai was badly hit by the recession of 2009 and had to be bailed out by its benevolent bigger brother, Abu Dhabi. One look at the Dubai International Airport is sufficient to tell any traveler that besides helping people to connect to various cities of the globe, the purpose of the Airport is to overpower everybody with its pompous décor. And this is the reason why Heathrow is considered to be a classy airport, an embodiment of elegant traditions and British values. The starkness of Heathrow as compared to the sparkling ostentation of Dubai Airport will surprise you no end. Heathrow is an Airport that's obviously more utilitarian than showy. You'll get a feel of quiet tradition, heritage and competency the moment you step into Heathrow. 'That's what makes Heathrow "Heathrow"', many travelers say.

Outside Heathrow

The parking space outside Heathrow is very large. Cars and tourist buses often park here. Tour operators endeavor to crowd the parking space in order to woo tourists as soon as they step out of the Airport. Gigantic tourist buses are often seen rumbling up to this area to pick up tourists who've booked the buses on a prior basis. London slowly creeps into view as you start your journey in these buses. It takes some time before you can get to downtown London, to Oxford Street, and to Knightsbridge, from Heathrow. You can stay in any of the hotels that are located in the vicinity of Heathrow. These hotels are generally cheaper than the ones situated in the heart of London. Staying near Heathrow can be convenient if you're not interested in sightseeing. But if you really want to see London, it's better you loosen your purse strings and put up at an expensive hotel near Trafalgar Square, near Piccadilly, or in Knightsbridge, on Oxford Street, on Regent Street, on Bond Street, or in Mayfair.

Meeting Diary: Your Amanuensis at Heathrow

And you can use Meeting Diary as your assistant throughout - when you're flying, when you're sightseeing, and when you're staying in London. It's a must-have for leisure travelers as well as for corporate go-getters who alight at Heathrow to breathe the air of London.