Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow is the world's busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic. It is the world's second busiest airport in total passenger traffic. It is also the largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom. It is also the busiest in the European Union in terms of passenger traffic and the second busiest in terms of traffic movements.

The Airport officially opened in 1946, however, the airport began life as a training aerodrome for the Royal Flying Corps during the 1st World War, and remained a military airfield until 1919.

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Aviation at the location of what is now Heathrow Airport began during World War I, when the site was used as a military airfield. By the 1930s the airfield, then known as the Great Western Aerodrome, was privately owned by fairey Aviation Company, and was used for aircraft assembly and testing. Commercial traffic used Croydon Airport, which was London's main airport at the time.

In 1943, Heathrow came under the control of the Air Ministry, to be developed as a Royal Air Force transfer station.

Construction of runways began in 1944, on land that was originally acquired from the Vicar of Harmondsworth.

The new airport was built by Wimpey Construction and was named after the hamlet of Heathrow. Little more than a row of isolated cottages on Hounslow Heath frequented by highwaymen; which was demolished to make way for the airport, and which was located approximately where Terminal 3 now stands.