Gatwick Airport (LGW) is the second busiest airport in the United Kingdom, and also the second largest in London. It is also the world's busiest single runway airport, the world's 22nd busiest airport in terms of passengers numbers, and the world's 7th busiest in terms of international passengers. Gatwick Airport is located in Crawley, West Sussex 46 km (28 miles) south of London. The site has been used as an aerodrome going back to the 1930's. For much of its early existence, it was the site of flying school. During the war years, it was used by the British Air Force for aircraft maintenance. It already had an underground train connection since 1936. The decision to make in 1950 to use Gatwick as the second international airport after Heathrow. It closed for extensive renovation in 1956, and was reopened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. The renovated airport became the world's first passenger airport with railway connection. Today it is served by two terminals, North and South Terminal. Pier 6 at North Terminal, opened in 2005, is the world's longest air passenger bridge. It spans an aircraft taxiway, allowing passengers excellent views of the airport and planes. Gatwick is owned and operated by BAA which is owned by the Spanish Ferrovial Group. BAA owns and operates six other UK airports including Heathrow. There are 263,363 aircraft movements at Gatwick in 2006. In 2007 the airport surpassed the 35 million passenger milestone. In 2008, Gatwick celebrated 50 years of operations. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 June 1958. Today it is the main London base for charter airlines. Many flights to and from USA also use Gatwick due to restrictions at Heathrow. The airport is also a major operational base for British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic, and the base for charter airlines including First Choice Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomsonfly and XL Airways.

Gatwick Airport, London by Pam Brophy (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0)

This article is about Heathrow Airport. For travel tips related to Heathrow Airport, read Arriving at Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and one of the busiest in the world. It is located 24 km (15 miles) west of Central London, on the southern end of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It is one of two international London airports located within the Greater London Area, the other being London City Airport.

Heathrow has two parallel main runways and four functional terminals with the next one, Terminal 5, expected to operate from March 2008. Some of the existing terminals have been earmarked for redevelopment. Heathrow East terminal, expected to come into operation in 2012 will replace Terminal 2 and The Queens Building.

Heathrow Airport started as the Great Western Aerodrome in the 1930s, on land originally acquired from the vicar of Harmondsworth. It was named after the hamlet of Heath Row, which was cleared to make way for the airport - it is located approximately where Terminal 3 now stands. At that time, Croydon Airport was the main airport serving London.

Construction of the first modern runway at Heathrow Airport commenced 1953. The first permanent terminal building, then called Europa Building, but now Terminal 2, was opened in 1955. Following that, Oceanic Terminal, now known as Terminal 3, opened on 13 November 1961. Terminal 1 completed the cluster of terminal buildings at the centre of Heathrow Airport when it opened in 1968.

The siting of these early terminals reflected the lifestyle at that time. There was little space given to parking, because at that time air travel was affordable onto to the wealthy, who would be chauffeur driven. The location of Heathrow, to the west of London, was also a poor choice. Westerly winds require airlines to fly low over the city for much of the year, something that is avoided by other European cities such as Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

The London Underground was extended to Heathrow in 1977, allowing travellers to reach Central London in under an hour. The Heathrow Express train came into operation in 1998, cutting down travel time to Paddingtom station to only 15 minutes. Terminal 4, built away from the three older terminals, opened in 1986 and became the new home for British Airways.

Although Heathrow originally had six runways, today it only two parallel runways. To accommodate the introduction of Airbus A380, Pier 6 at Terminal 3 was modified. The new Terminal 5 will also be able to accommodate the A380.

Heathrow Airport claims itself to be the "world's busiest international airport". While it indeed has the highest international passenger numbers, in terms of total passenger traffic, it ranks third after Atlanta-Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago-O'Hare in the United States. In 2006, Heathrow gets 18.8% more passengers than Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and 27.9% more than Frankfurt Airport. However, in terms of plane movements, it is third behind Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt.
London Heathrow Terminal 5
Author: Adambro (GFDL)


London Heathrow Terminal 2
Author: GBR7051 (public domain)


London Heathrow Terminal 3
Author: Tom Murphy VII (GFDL)

London City Airport (LCY) is a small single-runway airport that serves the financial districts of London. It is located on a former Docklands site, in the London Borough of Newham in East London. London City is the smallest of the five international airports serving the London area after Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in November 1987.

London City was used by 2.3 million passengers, mostly business travellers, in 2006. Due to the London City Airport, height of new skyscrapers in and around the Canary Wharf had to be limited. Passengers to the airport can use the Docklands Light Railway to the London City Airport DLR station.
London City Airport
Author: Josep Renalias (cc-by-sa-3.0)

London Luton Airport (LTN) is the fourth largest of the five international airports serving London. It is located on the edge of the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, about 48 km (30 miles) north of London. The airport is 2 miles (3 km) from junction 10a of the M1 motorway. It is the fourth largest airport serving the London area after Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted and is one of London's five international airports along with London City Airport.

Like Stansted, London Luton experience high growth in passenger traffic. It is presently the 7th busiest airport in the United Kingdom. Plans to expand the airport and extend the length of its runway has met with opposition from local groups concerned over the resulting deterioration in the quality of life in the neighbourhood.
Luton Airport
Author: arpingstone (public domain)

London Stansted Airport (STN) is a major airport for London served mostly by European low-cost carriers. It is located 48 km (30 miles) north-east of London. Stansted Airport is the third largest airport serving the London area after Heathrow and Gatwick, and is one of London's five international airports which includes Luton Airport and London City Airport.

Stansted is one of the fastest growing airport in the United Kingdom. From a passenger traffic of 12 million in 2000, it grew to 21.9 million in 2005. The British Airport Authority, BAA, has applied to increase the number of aircraft movement and remove limit on passenger numbers, but this has been rejected by the Uttlesford district council. BAA is also trying to get approval to build a second runway at Stansted - doing that will allow the airport to handle more passengers than Heathrow. So far the plan has met with objections from those concerned over the quality of life in the neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk.
London Stansted Airport
Author: Oxyman (GFDL)