Will NobleIn Pictures: 80 Years Of Heathrow Airport
London Airport opened on 25 March 1946, and was renamed Heathrow London Airport 20 years later. To mark its 80th birthday, the airport has released these photos, charting a history that began with tents as terminals, and went on to see the service of the world's fastest passenger plane.
The ground is prepared for Heathrow, which became London's premier airport in March 1946. Image: SWNS/HeathrowEarly passenger terminals were ex‑military marquees which formed a tented village that was basic but comfortable and equipped with floral‑patterned armchairs, settees and even small tables containing vases of fresh flowers. In winter, they could be bitterly cold, and in the summer the walls were removed to allow the breeze to blow through. In these early stages, passengers walked across wooden duckboards to protect their footwear from the muddy airfield as they reached their aircraft. Image: SWNS/HeathrowStar Light, a converted Lancaster bomber, was the first aircraft to take off from Heathrow, doing so a couple of months before the airport officially opened. Image: SWNS/HeathrowA WH Smith open for business in one of the canvas terminals. Image: SWNS/HeathrowQueen Elizabeth II returns from a Commonwealth tour, to mourn her father's death, in February 1952. She instantly became Queen upon his death at just 25. Wearing all black, she was met at the steps of the aircraft by senior politicians and dignitaries, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill, before returning to Clarence House. Image: SWNS/HeathrowEdmund Hillary (centre left), Tenzing Norgay (centre) and John Hunt (with the pick-axe) return from conquering Everest in 1953. Image: SWNS/HeathrowThe Beatles are mobbed post-American tour, in 1964. British pop acts almost never succeeded in the United States until The Beatles stepped on a flight from the London airport. Their return on 22 February 1964 was celebrated as a triumph not just for music fans but for the entire country, sparking an invasion of British music across the Atlantic. Image: SWNS/HeathrowHeathrow welcomes the first Boeing 747 Jumbo to Britain. The 361-passenger Boeing 747 arrived for the first time on UK soil in January 1970. And the plane itself had a cruising speed of 625 miles per hour, cutting the journey time to London by 30 minutes. This image shows the captain and crew walking away from the Pan Am jumbo. The 747, dubbed the 'Queen of the skies' revolutionised travel as the world's first twin-aisle plane. Image: SWNS/HeathrowOn 21 January 1976, seven years after Concorde's maiden test flight, the first commercial flights took place, leaving Heathrow for Bahrain at 11:40am. A simultaneous flight also departed from Paris to Rio via Dakar as part of its launch. Image: SWNS/HeathrowOne passenger on board Concorde's maiden commercial flight was Bob Ingham, a superfan of Concorde who saved for three years to buy his ticket. Wearing a 'sunrise' headdress and silver face paint with white and purple robes, he became a popular figure, widely covered in the media. 27 years later, British Airways carried out the final Concorde flight from Heathrow's Terminal 1. Image: SWNS/HeathrowPrince Charles and Princess Diana open Terminal 4 On 1 April 1986. The then-Prince had his arm in a sling following a gardening accident in which he hit and broke his index finger while hammering a stake into the ground. As a result, he struggled to cut the ribbon, and Diana stepped in to steady the scissors as they completed the opening together. Image: SWNS/HeathrowPrime Minister Tony Blair officially opened the Heathrow Express on 23 June 1998, a new high-speed rail link between the airport and London Paddington station. Blair spoke to Claire Pick, the driver of the train, part of a privately financed £450 million project creating a 15‑minute journey from central London to the airport. Image: SWNS/HeathrowIn a campaign to rebuild confidence in airline travel following the 9/11 attacks, Hollywood actor and self-confessed “airline geek” John Travolta partnered with Qantas to fly his vintage Boeing 707, formerly of the airline, to 10 countries. The actor said the moment he was presented with his Qantas golden wings was "one of the proudest of my life", and he took as much pride in them as in his two Oscar nominations. He was photographed holding a Union Flag from the cockpit window on 19 August 2002 and flew more than 30,000 miles between Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, London, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, New York and Los Angeles. Image: SWNS/HeathrowIn 2003 Heathrow starred in festive rom-com Love Actually. One of its most memorable scenes was filmed in Heathrow's Terminal 3 building. Starring Olivia Olson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Joanna and Sam, the pair exchange an innocent and heartfelt moment as he chases her to say goodbye as she boards her flight home. The film opens with real shots of travellers reuniting, as well as a final scene that reunites key characters such as David and Natalie, played by Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon. Image: SWNS/HeathrowEngland’s victorious rugby team landed at Heathrow on Tuesday 25 November 2003 from Sydney after bringing home the World Cup following Jonny Wilkinson's decisive extra‑time drop goal. Fans surrounded Terminal 4 to welcome them home, and crowds broke into "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", despite the team arriving at 4:35am. The trophy itself had its own seat reserved on the aircraft. Image: SWNS/HeathrowQueen Elizabeth II opens Terminal 5 in March 2008. A 30‑strong choir performed, with the terminal formally opening to passengers on 28 March. Image: SWNS/HeathrowHeathrow became the home base to the Airbus A380 in 2013 as British Airways became the first UK airline to operate the world's largest aircraft. The first and only full‑length double‑deck airliner can carry 500 passengers. Image: SWNS/HeathrowMadonna arrives at Heathrow in 2016. Image: SWNS/HeathrowFollowing a ban on all non‑essential travel due to the Coronavirus pandemic on 17 March 2020, the country went into national lockdown six days later, halting all travel. As a result, Heathrow had to close its doors, operating only essential flights in and out of the country. With restrictions largely lifted in early 2022, demand rebounded and 2024 saw a recovery to pre‑pandemic passenger levels. Image: SWNS/HeathrowHeathrow's long-running bid for a third runway has the backing of the current government, although the airport concedes that "delivering the project remains complex". Image: SWNS/Heathrow
