| Heathrow Terminal 1 | |
|---|---|
 Heathrow Terminal 1 in 2007 | |
  Location within Greater London | |
| General information | |
| Status | Partly demolished |
| Type | Airport terminal |
| Coordinates | 51°28′23″N0°27′04″W / 51.473°N 0.451°W /51.473; -0.451 |
| Inaugurated | May 1969 |
| Renovated | 2005 (opening of Eastern Extension) |
| Client | Heathrow Airport Holdings |
| Website | |
| Heathrow Airport | |
Heathrow Terminal 1 is a disused airport terminal atLondon Heathrow Airport that was in operation between 1968 and 2015. When it was officially opened byQueen Elizabeth II in April 1969, it was the largest newairport terminal in western Europe. At the time of its closure on 29 June 2015, to make way for the expansion ofHeathrow Terminal 2, it had been handling only twenty daily flights byBritish Airways to nine destinations. From May 2017 the contents of the terminal were put up for auction.[1][2][3] In 2025, plans were announced to demolish the building and expand Terminal 2, 10 years after its closure.[4]
Terminal 1 was designed byFrederick Gibberd, who also designed the earlier Europa Building (renamedTerminal 2) and the adjacentQueens Building. It opened to passengers in 1968, and it was formally opened byQueen Elizabeth II in April 1969.[5] At the time, Terminal 1 was the biggest short-haul terminal of its kind in Western Europe.[6] Prior to the opening ofTerminal 5 in 2008, Terminal 1 hosted the bulk of UK domestic services in and out of Heathrow – predominantly British Airways andBritish Midland International (BMI).
A new pier (the so-calledEuropier) was added in the 1990s which increased the capacity of the terminal, catering forwide-body aircraft. There was separation between arriving and departing passengers within the International section, although the terminal was not originally built to cater for this separation.[citation needed] In 2005, a substantial redesign and redevelopment of Terminal 1 was completed, which saw the opening of the new Eastern Extension, doubling the departure lounge in size and creating additional seating and retail space.
After the buyout of BMI, British Airways served some short- and medium-haul destinations from this terminal.Virgin Atlantic operated its short-livedLittle Red UK domestic operation from the former BMI departure area in Gate 8 of Terminal 1.
Terminal 1 closed on 29 June 2015 to allow the second stage of the expansion of Terminal 2[1] and all flights it was serving were relocated to other terminals.[7][8] Several airlines had already left Terminal 1 from 2014. The last tenants alongside British Airways wereIcelandair,El Al andTAM Airlines;[9] TAM Airlines moved toTerminal 3 on 27 May 2015.
During Terminal 1's final days, British Airways was the last airline to operate there, with flights to Amman-Queen Alia, Baku, Beirut, Cairo and Hannover, which all moved toTerminal 5, and to Bilbao, Luxembourg, Lyon and Marseille, which were relocated to Terminal 3.[7] The final flight to depart from Terminal 1 was British Airways BA0970 toHannover, Germany, at 21:30 on 29 June 2015.
In 2018 an auction of the contents of Terminal 1 took place at the Thistle London Heathrow Hotel.[10]
The main terminal building is now empty and some of the ancillary structures and contact piers have been demolished. Today the terminal is used for training and emergency services exercises. It also handles the baggage system for Terminal 2.[11] In 2025 Heathrow Airport announced plans to demolish the main terminal building and expand Terminal 2.[4]
Due to its impending closure, there were just seven shops left airside in the terminal by June 2015:Boots, Cocoon,Dixons Travel, Glorious Britain,WHSmith andWorld Duty Free. There was an airside link to Terminal 2 allowing passengers to use the facilities in that terminal. AllStar Alliance members formerly in Terminal 1 moved to Terminal 2 due to its closure. The Star Alliance lounge, the El Al King David Lounge and theServisair lounge were closed prior to the closure of the terminal. The British Airways International lounge near Gate 5 was operational until the end. The gates at Terminal 1 were numbered 2–8, 16–21 and 74–78. From 2017 the remaining contents of the terminal were sold at auction and by private treaty.[2][12]
As part of the three central terminals at Heathrow, it was linked to theM4 motorway via the M4 spur road and through a tunnel under the north runway. There was a short-stay car park directly opposite the terminal and a long-stay car park further away, accessed by a shuttle bus service.
Terminal 1 was accessed by theLondon Underground fromHeathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 tube station, with trains towardsCockfosters viaCentral London. The terminal was also accessed byHeathrow Connect andHeathrow Express fromHeathrow Central railway station, where services operate to other Heathrow terminals and toLondon Paddington.
Terminal 1 was accessible to both bus and coach services fromHeathrow Central bus station.
Media related toHeathrow Terminal 1 at Wikimedia Commons