page_title: Heathrow Airport
section_title: Terminal 5
hierarchical_section_title: Heathrow Airport / Terminals / Current terminals / Terminal 5
caption_attribution_description: Own work
context_page_description: Heathrow Airport, originally called London Airport and now known as London Heathrow, is a major international airport in London, United Kingdom. Heathrow is the second busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic, as well as the busiest airport in Europe by passenger traffic, and the seventh busiest airport in the world by total passenger traffic. It is one of six international airports serving the London region. In 2019, it handled a record 80.8 million passengers, a 0.9% increase from 2018 as well as 475,861 aircraft movements, a decrease of 1,743 from 2018. The airport facility is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings.
  Heathrow lies 14 miles west of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with four operational terminals on a site that covers 12.27 square kilometres. The airport is the primary hub for British Airways and the primary operating base for Virgin Atlantic.
  In September 2012, the Government of the United Kingdom established the Airports Commission, an independent commission chaired by Sir Howard Davies to examine various options for increasing capacity at UK airports.
context_section_description: Terminal 5 lies between the northern and southern runways at the western end of the Heathrow site and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008, some 19 years after its inception. It opened to the public on 27 March 2008, and British Airways and its partner company Iberia have exclusive use of this terminal. The first passenger to enter Terminal 5 was a UK ex-pat from Kenya who passed through security at 04:30 on the day. He was presented with a boarding pass by the British Airways CEO Willie Walsh for the first departing flight, BA302 to Paris. During the two weeks after its opening, operations were disrupted by problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with insufficient testing and staff training, which caused over 500 flights to be cancelled. Until March 2012, Terminal 5 was exclusively used by British Airways as its global hub; however, because of the merger, on 25 March Iberia's operations at Heathrow were moved to the terminal, making it the home of International Airlines Group. On 7 July 2020, American moved to terminal 5, to allow for easier connections from American's transatlantic flights to British Airways flights.
  Built at £4.3 billion, the terminal consists of a four-story main terminal building (Concourse A) and two satellite buildings linked to the main terminal by an underground people mover transit system. The second satellite (Concourse C), includes dedicated aircraft stands for the Airbus A380. It became fully operational on 1 June 2011. Terminal 5 was voted Skytrax World's Best Airport Terminal 2014 in the Annual World Airport Awards.
  The main terminal building (Concourse A) has an area of 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft) while Concourse B covers 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft). It has 60 aircraft stands and capacity for 30 million passengers annually as well as more than 100 shops and restaurants. It is also home to British Airways' Flagship lounge, the Concorde Room, alongside four further British Airways branded lounges.
  A further building, designated Concourse D and of similar size to Concourse C, may yet be built to the east of the existing site, providing up to another 16 stands. Following British Airways' merger with Iberia, this may become a priority since the combined business will require accommodation at Heathrow under one roof to maximise the cost savings envisaged under the deal. A proposal for Concourse D featured in Heathrow's most recent capital investment plan.
  The transport network around the airport has been extended to cope with the increase in passenger numbers.  New branches of both the Heathrow Express and the Underground's Piccadilly line serve a new shared Heathrow Terminal 5 station. A dedicated motorway spur links the terminal to the M25 (between junctions 14 and 15). The terminal has a 3,800 space multi-storey car park. A more distant long-stay car park for business passengers is connected to the terminal by a personal rapid transit system, the Heathrow Pod, which became operational in the spring of 2011. Within the terminal complex, an automated people mover (APM) system, known as the Transit, is used to transport passengers between the satellite buildings.
caption: Terminal 5 bird's-eye view
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