Peek inside Heathrow’s abandoned Terminal 1
WHEN THE TERMINAL FIRST OPENED IT WAS THE LARGEST IN EUROPE
EVER wondered where on earth Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 1 got to?
The terminal was opened by the Queen back in 1969 but has since been abandoned after the airport’s expansion plans took it in new directions, leaving this terminal behind.
Now it stands empty, eerie and abandoned, a bit like school halls after hours.
It would probably even feel a bit spooky if you were to make the strange choice of walking around there at night.
The only noise you’d hear is the occasional footsteps of a patrolling security guard.
But Terminal 1 wasn’t always like this.
When it first opened, Terminal 1 was viewed as a symbolic gateway into the UK for millions of holidaymakers as well as global celebrities and politicians.
It became the largest airport terminal in Europe and it was all anyone could talk about.
The first ever flight from the glamorous new T1 was a BE352 Vanguard flight, by BA’s forerunner, British European Airways, that took 100 people to Edinburgh.
After 46 years of operation, the last flight took off from Terminal 1 on June 29, 2015. Like the first, it was also a BA flight, but this one was to Hanover in Germany.
By the time it closed the terminal had only been handling 20 British Airways flights a day to nine destinations, which compared to the approximate 1,300 flights per day across the other terminals, was pretty small.
The decision was made to shut it down to make way for the expansion of Terminal 2.
A lot was changing – in the very same week, plans for a third runway at Heathrow were announced.
As you can see from the photos, Terminal 1 became a bit of a sorry sight once it closed to the public and it was no longer filled with happy holidaymakers.
Seats were empty, conveyor belts were no longer need, and restaurants and shops closed up due to lack of customers.
In the years after Terminal 1 closed, it was decided that it would gradually be demolished over a fiveto 10-year period.
From 2017, it was decided that objects would be sold at auction, if they could be, according to The Sun.
It was also decided the piers that once extended from the central terminal so that passengers could get to their planes on foot would be knocked down to provide space for double decker Airbus A380s to be able to get past each other from Terminal 2 up to the northern runway.