But If You Have To Catch A Connection......Good Luck!
Written: Sep 01 '02 (Updated Sep 03 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: airline selection
Cons: crowded in areas, connecting, unprofessional, spread out, expensive shops
The Bottom Line: Try connecting, somewhere else!
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| jetbluefan1's Full Review: London Heathrow Airport |
Heathrow is the largest airport in the city of London, England. It is the fourth busiest airport in the world, and it is home to one of the largest airlines: British Airways. It is also home to some smaller airlines: Virgin Atlantic, and British Midland. Four terminals are currently being used, and British Airways is constructing a fifth one! Each terminal is very large and has a multiple amount of airlines operating from them.
Airport Competition
Competition at Heathrow is not only the airlines but also the airports. There are several airports in the London area: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, and Luton. That is the order in how busy they are. Gatwick, is also a home to British Airways and Virigin Atlantic. Not to mention two charter airlines: Air UK, and Excel. Stansted is home to Ryanair, but it attracts most of the major European airlines. Luton is home to EasyJet, a low-fare airline, serving into many European markets. EasyJet has a CEO who is Cypriot! Oh, how proud am I (since I am Cypriot)?
Airline Competition
Airline competition is big at Heathrow. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been competing for years. British Airways serves into most European airports, as Virgin Express has a smaller impact in the European airports. British Airways serves into every major airport in the USA. Virgin is catching up with its new service to Las Vegas, which began in 2001.
British Midland is another large competitor at Heathrow. This airline serves into many destinations in the UK (Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow.....), and into some smaller markets in Europe. The airline currently started cross-atlantic service to Dulles International Airport, near Washington D.C. Failing airline, United, also serves the same route and so does British Airways.
United Airlines serves from Heathrow to Dulles, New York City JFK, Newark New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago O-hare. British Airways does to and American serves from Heathrow to O-hare, and New York City JFK, along with Miami, and Dallas. So as you can see, competition is high in both the European and American markets.
Wait, what about South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia? Yes, there is competition there too! British Airways serves into India, the Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, Buenos Aires, Sau Paulo, and Africa. However, Air India is a large competitor in the Indian market. So is Virgin Atlantic, which serves into Dehli. In the Middle East, there is Middle East Airlines. El Al (the airline with the best safety record) serves into Tel Aviv, and many of the other countries in the Middle East, have their own airlines. In Japan, British Airways, competes with JAL (Japan Airlines). British Airways, serves into many destinations in China such as Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Cathay Pacific, does the same routes. British Airways, and Korean, serve into Seoul, Korea. British Airways, Air New Zealand and Quantas, serve into Australian destinations such as Sydney, and Melbourne. Aerolineas Argentinas, and British Airways, serve into Buenos Aires, located in Argentina. Varig Brazil, and British Airways, serve into Sau Paulo, and sometimes Rio De Janeiro. For Africa, Air Nigeria, South African, and other African airliners serve into Heathrow. British Airways, serves into some African destinations, and Virgin Atlantic serves into Jo’burg.
As you can see, there is a lot of competition, on almost all routes, linking with Heathrow, and the surrounding airports. This means, that prices are starting to go down, and as competition grows, maybe airlines will start serving from Heathrow, to smaller cities in the USA like Columbus, or Hartford!
Airlines
The airline selection at Heathrow is one of the largest in the world. Here is an alphabetical list, of the airlines, and the terminals that they serve into, that I pulled off from
Terminal 1
Terminal 1 started operations, in 1968.
Airlines
Aer Lingus
British Midland
British Airways (flights to all UK and European destinations, except Amsterdam, Athens,
Basle, Moscow, and Paris)
Cyprus Airways
El Al Israel
Finnair
Iceland Air
LOT Polish
SN Brussels Airlines
South African Airways
Virgin Express
Terminal 2
Terminal 2 was Heathrow's first terminal, which opened it 1955.
Airlines
Aeroflot
Air Algerie
Air France
Alitalia
Austrian Airlines
British Midland (German flights[ticketing via Lufthansa])
British European
Croatia Airlines
CSA
Iberia
JAT
Libyan
Lufthansa
Luxair
Malev
Olympic Airways
Royal Air Maroc
Swiss International Airlines
Syrianair
TAP Air Portugal
Tarom Romanian
Transaero
Tunisair
Uzbekistan Airways
Virgin Atlantic
Yemen Airways
Terminal 3
Terminal 3 opened in 1961. About 15 million passengers use this terminal each year, and has gates for 41 different airlines!
Airlines
Air Canada
Air China
Air India
Air Jamaica
Ar Mauritius
Air Nambia
Air New Zealand
All Nippon Airways
American Airlines
Biman Bangladesh Airlines
British Midland (flights to Scandinavia)
British Airways (Miami flights)
BWIA
Cathay Pacific
Egypt Air
Ethiopian Airlines
Eva Air
Ghana Airways
Gulf Air
Iran Air
JAL (Japan Airlines)
Korean Air
Kuwait Airways
Lithuanian
Malaysia Airlines
MEA
Nigeria Airways
Pakistan International
Qatar Airways
Royal Brunei
Royal Jordanian
SAS
Saudi Arabian Airlines
Singapore Airlines
Sudan Airways
Thai Airways
Turkish Airlines
Turkmenistan Airlines
United Airlines
Varig Brazil
Terminal 4
This terminal, opened in 1986.
Airlines
Air Malta
British Airways (intercontinental flights, not including Miami-flights to Amsterdam, Athens,
Moscow and Paris)
Kenya Airways
KLM
Quantas
Sri Lankan
Note - Some of you may have noticed that I failed to mention Kibris Turkish Airways. That is because, it is the airline that serves into northern Cyprus, that was invaded by the Turkish in 1974, which lead to death and destruction, to the Cypriot people.
Taking a connection at Heathrow......the real horror!
On a trip, from JFK International Airport, to Cyprus, I took Virgin Atlantic to Heathrow (visit my Virgin Atlantic review!), and then continued on with Cyprus Airways, to Cyprus (visit my Cyprus Airways review!).
Here it goes.......
The Arrival -
When arriving into Heathrow, with Virgin Atlantic, I had a window seat. Therefore, I could look out the window, to see many airplanes. While taxying, from the runway, to the terminal, several airplanes, arrived on the runway, my 747 just arrived on. We made a turn, and taxied close to the terminal. There, I saw every bank occupied with an airplane. About 15 minutes later, we arrived at our gate, and disembarked.
The Walk -
After being thanked by the friendly crew on Virgin Atlantic, we walked down a very long gateway, to the terminal. When we entered the deserted terminal, I saw black chairs, that had nobody in them, as we were the only flight using that airside, for the few hours. We walked along a long corridor, then finally came to some moving sidewalks, which brought us all the way to the middle of the terminal.
The Gathering -
When arriving at the middle of the terminal, there were two employees standing behind a desk. Behind them, was a huge board, with all the airlines at Heathrow, posted in black letters. One of the employees, started asking each passenger what airline they were connecting to, in a very loud voice, as the other employee just sat there. Finally, I just shouted “Cyprus Airways”, and she shouted “terminal one!”
The Trip To T1 -
From there, we went down escalators, to an outside tarmac. A bus came to pick up all passengers going to Terminal 1. In this bus, there were many seats, but polls were also available to hold on to. It reminded me of the subway in New York City. There were windows to look outside, and see all the other huge aircraft, while driving right next to them!
The Madhouse -
When getting into the terminal, after going up several escalators, we saw what we never thought we would ever see.....a Madhouse! There were so many passengers, running around, trying to catch their connection. We passed thousands of shops, and television monitors. The shops were stocked up with postcards, stuffed animals, cards, magazines, pillows, blankets, CDs, candy, Godiva chocolate, drinks, books, and toy airplanes. The items were a little bit more expensive than your everyday airport prices (which are very expensive).
Two Linings, Of Lines -
We got into a line, after passing the madhouse. This line, was for customs. After a ten minute wait, we showed the security officers our passports, and went through a scanning machine, while our carry-ons were being searched. Once we were handed our carry-ons, by the British/ English security officers, we got in yet another line, to be ticketed for our Cyprus Airways flight. The ticketing agents, were hired by the Heathrow Airport, and not the airlines. On top of each ticketing agent, an airline’s symbol was showing, on a television screen. Since the Cyprus Airways symbol wasn’t up, we had to ask them to ticket us. When the agents figured out that they forgot to add the Cyprus Airways symbol on one of the television monitors, they all slowly tried to figure out how to put it on two monitors.
Finally, we were ticketed, and came to a small, closed off boarding area. There were light green seats (made of cloth), that looked like they were from the 1970s. The carpet was an ugly, dirty, brown, and we were the only people in the area for one whole hour. The closest shop, was a ten minute walk, and the corridor seemed isolated, from the whole airport.
When we finally boarded, two hours later (one hour after everyone showed up), the gate was not working. Therefore, we had to walk down many stairs, on the tarmac, up several stairs, into the Cyprus Airways, airbus a310.
Final Thoughts -
I would never want to go back to Heathrow. Connecting was done uneasily, and the staff was unprofessional. The airport is very large, and takes too long to get around, and everything is spread out. Even though a large amount of airlines are available, it still doesn’t make up for the long waits in lines, and the expensive items in the shops. After being to many airports, I have learned this one is by far the worst ever. If you are an aviation fan, you’ll love this airport, but if you have a tight connection, you will hate this airport!
Recommended:
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