Heathrow Airport is the busiest international airport in the world, says the airport’s official website. Situated twelve nautical miles west of Central London, Heathrow is also a part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The airport lies at a convenient distance from famous places, such as Harligton, Harmondsworth, Longford, Hatton, Stanwell and Colnbrook. The airport started with just one grass runway in 1929, as a small airfield surrounded by farms and market gardens. It got its name from the hamlet of Heathrow it was situated in. Its development to a bigger airfield actually began in 1944. And since its completion around the end of World War II, the UK government has consistently invested in its development as a civil aviation hub. With the facilities of cheap hotels near Heathrow Airport, such as Master Robert Hotel, the airport today is used by airlines covering numerous destinations around the world.

Heathrow Today

By the 1950s, the airport consisted of six runways, which were arranged in the shape of a hexagram. Today, it has two parallel runways of the standard runway size that run east to west. The original runways can still be spotted from the air and work as taxiways. An analysis in 2011 showed that among the 69 million passengers that went through this terminal every year, 41% were short distance international travelers, 52% long distance international travelers and 7% were people visiting destinations in the UK.

The airport is equipped with full body scanners and security police that belong to the aviation security unit of the Metropolitan Police. It consists of places of worship for nearly every religion in the world, with an Anglican and a Catholic church, as well as chaplains for Hindus, Jews, Muslim and Sikhs. These chaplains operate and organize prayers at particular timings in their prayer rooms. With the increase in number of passengers using the airport to 70 million in 2012, the opening of Terminal 5 finally took some of the pressure off the other terminals. Today, this airport can manage a capacity of 90 million passengers per year. The location is such that you can find convenient and budget hotels near Heathrow Terminal 5, such as Master Robert Hotel, which offer comfortable accommodation and comprehensive facilities at the most reasonable rates. A wide array of places to visit is situated at a very comfortable distance, such as Royal Botanical Gardens, Windsor Castle and Legoland.

Terminal 5

This terminal, constructed to cope with the ever increasing number of passengers at the airport, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and made accessible for the public in March 2008. It took £4.3 billion to build this new terminal, which was actually built after 19 years of its inception. It comprises of a two-storey main terminal building, known as the Concourse A, and two satellite buildings, linked together by an underground transit system. Concourse A covers an area of 300,000 square meters. Till March 2012 this terminal was an exclusive global hub for British Airways. However, on March 25, 2012, it became the home of International Airlines Group. While visiting London, it is a good idea to look for hotels near Heathrow Terminal 5 for quick access to international travel and nearby attractions.