page_title: History of Heathrow Airport
section_title: 2000s
hierarchical_section_title: History of Heathrow Airport / 2000s
caption_attribution_description: London Heathrow Airport
context_page_description: In its early years what is now Heathrow Airport was the Great West Aerodrome, sometimes known as Heathrow Aerodrome.
context_section_description: 2001: 24 smallholdings west of the Perry Oaks sewage works were obliterated: see Heathrow (hamlet)#Timeline at "After World War I:".
  September 2002:: Construction of Terminal 5 began.
  Its first stage (which took 18 months) was the Twin Rivers Diversion Scheme, diverting the Longford River and the Duke of Northumberland's River around the western perimeter of the airport, and realigning the A3044 dual carriageway and the Western Perimeter Road.
  2003: The army is again briefly deployed to Heathrow, as in 1974 – but this time under the orders of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Again, the reasons given relate to terrorism – specifically, intelligence of an "extremely probable" terrorist attack – which, however, never happened in the event.
  2005: Runway 23, a short runway for use in strong south-westerly winds, was decommissioned. It is now part of a taxiway.
  2005: The Eastern Extension of Terminal 1 opened.
  2006: The new £105 million Pier 6 was completed at Terminal 3 in order to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo, and provided four new aircraft stands. Other modifications costing in excess of £340 million were also carried out across the airfield in readiness for the Airbus A380.
  From 7 January 2005 to 17 September 2006: The underground railway loop via Heathrow Terminal 4 was closed to connect a spur line to Heathrow Terminal 5 station. Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 was again a terminus. Shuttle buses served Terminal 4 from Hatton Cross bus station. Briefly in summer 2006, the line terminated at Hatton Cross and shuttle buses also ran to Terminals 1, 2, 3 while the track configuration and tunnels there were altered for work on the Terminal 5 link.
  18 May 2006: The first A380 test flight to Heathrow arrived.
  21 April 2007: A new 87-metre (285 ft) high £50 million air traffic control tower entered service, and was officially opened by Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander on 13 June 2007. The tower was designed by the Richard Rogers partnership and is the tallest air traffic control tower in the United Kingdom.
  November 2007: A consultation process began for building a new third runway and a sixth terminal.
  14 March 2008: Queen Elizabeth II opened Terminal 5.
  18 March 2008: Following delays in the A380's production, the first A380 in scheduled passenger service, Singapore Airlines Flight 380 with registration number 9V-SKA, touched down from Singapore carrying 470 passengers, marking the first ever European commercial flight by the A380.
  27 March 2008:: Terminal 5 opened to passengers. Heathrow Terminal 5 station opened.
  2008: Terminal 2B started being constructed.
  2009: The Queen's Building was demolished.
  15 January 2009: New 3rd runway & 6th terminal controversially approved by UK government ministers.
  29 October 2009: British Airways vacated Terminal 4 and moved to Terminal 5.
  November 2009: The first stage of building Terminal 2B completed.
  23 November 2009: The old Terminal 2 closed.
caption: Aircraft at Heathrow in 2007
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