Heathrow Terminal 2

History

Approval for the new terminal, originally named Heathrow East, was granted by the then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and Hillingdon Council in May 2007.

Design

The new terminal's design continues the "toast rack" principle employed in the construction of Terminal 5, a layout that maximises use of the airport's land by placing the terminal building and its satellites perpendicular to the runways. Like Terminal 5, much of the building was constructed off-site, helping to overcome many of the logistical constraints of building in one of the world's busiest international airports.

The terminal is split into two connected buildings, Terminal 2A and Terminal 2B. 2A was designed by Luis Vidal + Architects (LVA) and built by a joint venture between Ferrovial and Laing O'Rourke. 2B was designed by Grimshaw Architects, and built by Balfour Beatty.

The gates in the new T2 are numbered in concourse A (gates 3–26) and concourse B (gates 28–49).

The new Terminal 2 is designed to produce 40% less carbon dioxide emissions than the buildings it has replaced. 20% of this target will be achieved through energy efficiency design technology elements, such as high levels of insulation, LED lighting and passive lighting. Also large north-facing windows in the roof will flood the building with natural light, reducing the need for artificial lighting, without generating excess heat. Photovoltaic (solar) panels on the roof will further reduce dependency on energy supplies. The remaining 20% carbon reduction will be due to the new T2 Energy Centre, via biomass CHP fuelled by woodchips from local renewable resources, will provide heating and cooling to both T2 and T5.

Construction

Construction of the terminal is spread across two phases. The first phase, started in 2009 and completed in June 2014, has involved the demolition of the old terminal and construction of half of the main terminal building, and the completion of the 522-metre (1,713 ft) satellite building Terminal 2B. The second phase is due to begin after the demolition of Terminal 1 and will involve the construction of the second half of Terminal 2 in its place. It had originally been expected that the second phase would be completed around 2019, but in February 2013 Heathrow Airport Ltd. confirmed the project would not be expected to be complete until the next decade. Once complete the terminal will have a footprint and operational capacity very similar to that of Terminal 5.

Phase 1 was once expected to be completed in 2012, in time for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games but, as construction started much later than proposed it only opened in June 2014.

By January 2013, Terminal 2A had been declared weather-tight and the internal fit-out of the building was well under way. In spring 2013 systems installation commenced. The first phase of Terminal 2B was completed in November 2009 and its six gates became operational in early 2010. Until Terminal 2 was completed, passengers accessed the first part of Terminal 2B via a temporary "bridge" from Terminal 1.

Demolition of the original airport control tower which formed part of the Central Terminal Area of the airport began in January 2013 and was completed in autumn 2013, to make way for connecting roads that have been built to link with the new Terminal 2. Air traffic control operations had moved to a new control tower in 2007 but part of the building remained in use as office space.

In June 2013 it was announced that the terminal would be known as "Terminal 2 – The Queen's Terminal". The terminal features a sculpture designed by Richard Wilson, called Slipstream. It has been designed to resemble a stunt aircraft in flight, and has been described as the longest permanent sculpture in Europe. A second sculpture, named Emergence, was created by Cinimod Studio and is suspended within the terminal.

Opening

The first flight to arrive at the terminal was United Airlines flight UA958 from Chicago, landing at 5:49 am local time on 4 June 2014. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the terminal on 23 June 2014.

After a period of phased moves, the terminal has become home to Star Alliance (along with new member Air India), as part of Heathrow Airport's plan to maximise the efficiency of the airport by reducing transfer times and improving the passenger experience. The new terminal will have capacity for 30 million passengers each year.

Star Alliance

Terminal 2 is the base for Star Alliance members that fly from Heathrow. All airlines transfered from other terminals by January 2017, with Air India shifting from Terminal 4 to Terminal 2 on 25 January 2017. There is no common alliance lounge in the terminal; Lufthansa has a lounge in the main terminal and Air Canada, Singapore Airlines and United have lounges in the satellite. In the main terminal there are also an Aer Lingus and a Plaza Premium pay-as-you-go lounge.

Non-alliance

Three non-alliance airlines also use the terminal: Germanwings, a Lufthansa subsidiary that has replaced Lufthansa on flights to German destinations other than to Frankfurt and Munich; Aer Lingus, flying to Ireland (Republic and Northern Ireland); Icelandair, flying to Iceland, which has multiple code-share and interline agreements with Star Alliance members, such as SAS and Lufthansa. Terminal 2 is the only terminal, other than Terminal 5, that is set up to handle domestic and Irish flights.

Airbus A380 and Boeing 747

Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways International operate the Airbus A380 from Terminal 2. In summer 2015 two of Singapore Airlines' four daily flights and Thai Airways' single daily flight used this aircraft.

United Airlines often uses a single daily 747 on each of its Chicago to Heathrow and San Francisco to Heathrow routes during the summer tourist season.

Original terminal

The first building to be known as Terminal 2 was Heathrow's oldest terminal, and opened as the Europa Building in 1955. It had an area of 49,654 square metres (534,470 sq ft) and in its lifetime saw 316 million passengers pass through its doors. Originally designed to handle around 1.2 million passengers annually, in its final years of operation it often accommodated around 8 million.

On 20 April 1984, a bomb exploded in the baggage area of T2, injuring 22 people including 1 seriously.

Despite the best efforts of maintenance staff and various renovations and upgrades over the years, the building became increasingly decrepit and unserviceable. It was closed on 23 November 2009; Air France flight AF1881 to Paris was the last flight to depart from the terminal. The building was demolished in 2010, and the resulting space was combined with the adjacent area where the Queen's Building stood until its demolition in 2009 to form the site for the new terminal.