Air Cargo Archives - Atlas Logistics UK LTD

London Heathrow Airport has changed beyond recognition since being transferred to the Minister of Civil Aviation on 1^st January 1946.  Back then it started out as merely a tented village where passengers reached the aircraft across duckboards.  The airport handled only 63 thousand passengers in its first year and was not called Heathrow Airport.  Simply then known as London Airport, things didn’t start to change until the late 1950’s when it was awarded the IATA code LHR.

There are many factors which make up London Heathrow.  Most people know Heathrow as the home of Concorde.  Did you know that an original Concorde is still housed at the airport?  Concorde 208 G-BOAB (“Alpha Bravo”) was used for commercial flights and was launched in 1976.  It made its final journey in August 2000 from New York to London Heathrow and is now sited at the end of runway 27L, so it can be viewed by the passengers of the airport.

As the world’s third busiest airport, running Heathrow is a 24/7 operation.  Flights do not operate 24 hours a day however.  Flights start arriving from 04:30 with departures at 06:00.  Flights then stop at 23:30 every day.  During the time the flights are stopped essential maintenance work is carried out on the runways and aircraft, engineering work is completed, cleaning takes place, systems are serviced and outlets restocked.  It costs over £975 million per annum to run Heathrow and back in 2013 cost £20 million alone to resurface the south runway.

Heathrow is the UK’s only Hub airport and Europe’s busiest, operating over 1,400 flights a day.  That’s nearly half a million each year or one every 45 seconds.  Terminal 5 is the largest free standing structure in the UK.  Inside, its security lanes aim to process 35 passengers per 15 minutes and throughout the summer the terminal is at its busiest, with more than 100,000 people per day using its facilities.

Everyone within the Heathrow community contributes to the safety and security of the airport.  London Ambulance Service has a team of first responders in all terminals.  They operate throughout the terminals on mountain bikes to get to the passengers quickly but safely.  In 2008 Heathrow Airport Watch was set up for Aviation Enthusiasts to report anything suspicious to the aviation police.  Aviation Enthusiasts are issued identity cards after background checks are completed which easily identifies them to airport officials.

Heathrow has undergone massive changes over the last decade.  Terminal 4 completed a major refurbishment after British Airways relocated to the newly opened Terminal 5.  The old Terminal 2 buildings were demolished and rebuilt, opening to the public in June 2014.  A new state of the art Air Traffic Control Tower was opened in 2007 at 285-foot-tall.  At the time this made it the UK’s tallest tower.  Housed within are the air traffic controllers to which Heathrow employs 65, trained by the college of Air Traffic Control.

Still in discussion and debate is whether Heathrow should expand further to gain a third runway and Terminal 6.  It does already have a “6^th Terminal” however, The VIP Suite also known as The Royal Suite has two dedicated stands RS1 and RS2.  It is used for private aircraft by visiting heads of state, certain high ranking celebrities and The Royal Family.

With all this development Heathrow is well placed to transport over 73 million passengers worldwide and handles them by employing over 76 thousand people.  The demand for air travel continues to grow whether it is for the business or leisure sector.  By placing itself in a constant pattern of regeneration, Heathrow should continue to attract travellers from the world over and keep developing itself as a pioneer of airport innovation.

Heathrow airport is the third busiest airport in the world after Atlanta in the US and Beijing, China.  In 2015 the airport handled 75 million passengers.  Heathrow employs 76,000 people within the airport boundary and everyday 1,400 flights take off and leave which equates to one every 45 seconds, almost half a million a year!

In June 2015 it was announced that plans were to start being put into place for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.  Whether you are in favour, against the proposal, or maybe un-decided here are a few key facts about the controversial proposal.

The below discusses two main points (cost and environmental effect) against building the third runway.

The plan to build the new 3,500m runway has been estimated at a cost of £18.6bn.  Who will be paying for this, well the money to build the runway will mostly be paid for privately but there is no doubt that as UK tax payers we will all pick up some of the cost for the additional infrastructure.  It has been estimated that this total could be in the region of £5.7bn.  You then have to consider the impact on the cost of the airfares.  To pay for this work the airport will undoubtedly have to charge the airlines more to land which may lead to passengers seeing an extra cost on the flight prices.

From an environmental point of view there obviously will be an increase in both noise and air pollution should the third runway go ahead.  Friends of the Earth campaigner Jenny Bates says: “The overall business case for further expansion of our airports is just not convincing, as it is not compatible with meeting our climate change targets.”  HACAN ClearSkies have said on the matter that, “The noise impact of a third runway would be unacceptable.  According to the EU, 725,000 people live under the Heathrow flight path; that is, astonishingly, 28% of all people impacted by noise right across Europe.  A new runway would add around another 150,000 people affected by the proposed flight path.

So how about the reasons to go ahead with the proposal.

Without increasing airport capacity, the UK will lose out on business competitiveness and tourism. Lack of airport capacity is often cited as a constraint on expanding UK business. Heathrow is the quickest option to build a world class hub airport.

With already good existing transport links to Heathrow the extension is seen as a cost effective way to create additional capacity which will connect Britain to 40 new destinations and increase long haul destination which would open doors to new market opportunities which in turn will only have a positive effect on our UK economy.

Heathrow have stated that there could be a possible 40,000 extra local jobs created by the expansion to the airport.  As one of the UK’s largest single-site employers they are focussing on apprenticeships and have estimated the figures to double to 10,000 by 2030.  There are five boroughs surrounding Heathrow (Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Slough and Spelthorne) where youth unemployment counts for a third of total unemployment.  Should the expansion go ahead it has been said that it could potentially end the youth unemployment for all five boroughs.

The question therefore is do you feel that the third proposed third runway at Heathrow should go ahead?  No doubt this will be a hot discussion topic for many before any decision is made. However one thing is for sure it will have an impact either way on those that live in the surrounding area and those that work at Heathrow airport and even closer to home – the logistics industry.