The London Heathrow Hotel is a modern and comfortable 4 star hotel offering a total of 62 suites including 12 Deluxe Suites and 12 Executive Suites-type suites.

Facitilities:

24 hour concierge, Daily housekeeping, room service, laundry and dry cleaning services ensure that you can just enjoy your holiday or concentrate on business.

Everything in the 62 spacious suites has been designed to make you and your family feel at home. Our friendly staff are at your service whenever you need them. Guest facilities include personal safe, fully equipped kitchen, washing machine and dryer, microwave, electric cooker, ironing board with iron, interactive TV and games, bathroom amenities and internet wifi facilities.

Owned and operated by BAA, a Spanish Ferrovial Group, the airport is the primary hub for British Airways, BMI and Virgin Atlantic.

The airport is located west of London and is one of two airports located within the boundary of the Greater London area, the other being London City Airport.

It has two parallel main runways running east to west and four major terminals. Terminal five is scheduled to open March 2008.

It is also the largest passenger airport in Europe.

See also

• History of London Heathrow Airport
• Heathrow Airport Security

Heathrow Airport began in the 1930s as the Great Western Aerodrome privately owned by Fairey Aviation and used for aircraft assembly and testing.

The airport was named after the hamlet of Heathrow was demolished to make way for the airport and was now where terminal three now stands.

In 1944, the airport came under the control of the Ministry of Air. Heathrow was initially secretly intended as a base for long range transport aircraft in support of the war with Japan. The Royal Air Force never made use of the airport and control was transferred to the ministry of Civil Aviation on January 1, 1946.

The first civil flight was to Buenos Aires via Lisbon. The airport opened fully for civilian use on May 31, 1946 and soon had three runways with three more under construction.

In 1953, the first concrete slab of the first modern runway was ceremonially placed by Queen Elizabeth II. She also opened the first permanent terminal building, now known as terminal two in 1955. Terminal three opened in 1961. At this point, the airport had helicopter service from central London and gardens on the roof of the terminal building.

The most recent of the cluster of main terminals was opened was Terminal One, opened in 1968. Terminal four, built away from the cluster, was built in 1986.

However, the army has occasionally been deployed to the airport during periods of heightened security.

Even so, Heathrow has been the target of robberies.

For example, on November 26, 1983 there was a robbery from the Brink’s Mat vault near Heathrow of 6800 gold bars. Only a fraction of the gold was recovered.

In March of 2002, thieves took $3 million dollars that had arrived on a South African Airways Flight.