London Heathrow Airport Guide

London Heathrow Airport is the primary international gateway for the United Kingdom, located 23 kilometres west of Central London in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It is the busiest airport in Europe and ranks among the five busiest airports in the world by total passenger traffic, handling a record 83.9 million passengers in 2024.

Heathrow operates on two parallel east-west runways and is capped at 480,000 air transport movements per year — a limit it operates close to. British Airways is the dominant carrier with roughly half of all passenger traffic, using Terminal 5 as its primary hub. Terminal 2 serves Star Alliance airlines including Lufthansa, United, Air Canada, and Singapore Airlines. Terminal 3 hosts oneworld members such as American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Japan Airlines, along with Virgin Atlantic and Emirates. Terminal 4 serves additional SkyTeam and Middle Eastern carriers.

The airport is connected to Central London by the Elizabeth line (approximately 40 minutes to Paddington) and the Heathrow Express (15 minutes non-stop). The M25 and M4 motorways provide direct road access. Heathrow Airport Holdings, owned by a consortium of international investors, operates the airport under a long-term concession.