subject: Why Heathrow Airport Is Ranked Amongst The Top 3 Airports In The World [print this page] Depending on the criteria used, Heathrow airport has many mind-boggling numbers associated with it. It was the third-busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers in 2011. It is preceded by the Atlanta International Airport and the Beijing Capital International airport. The airport is owned and operated by BAA limited. Official results released in the third quarter of 2011 indicated that over 52 million people had come through the airport in the first three quarters of the year. Using a Heathrow airport taxi is one of the fastest ways to get to the airport from central London, a distance of 14 miles. Fares charged by Heathrow airport taxis may vary, but they are a convenient means of travel to the airport.
The airport has employed over 72,000 employees and covers an area of 1,227 hectares. The airport has five terminals and only two main runways. A third runway was approved in 2009, but a lack of political support makes it unclear when the runway will be constructed. A statement by the labour party in October 2011 made it clear that a new runway is off the agenda. Out of all passengers that went through the airport in 2010, 66% were travelling only for leisure purposes. Business travellers are therefore much fewer in number in the same airport. Heathrow still has more business travellers than any other airport in London.
Most of the flights from the airport are long-haul flights, with 23% and 30% of total flights heading to North America and other distant locations, respectively. The short flights are made up of 38% heading to European destinations outside the UK and 8% internal flights. A total of 92 airlines use the airport to fly passengers to over 181 destinations.
The busiest terminal in the airport is terminal 5, and it accounts for over 24 million passengers. Twenty million passengers go through terminal 3, and 11 million passengers in terminal 1. Terminal 2 and 4 each get about 5 million passengers each. An estimated 190,000 passengers go through the airport every day.
Many people find it difficult to pick up their visitors at the airport due to the number of entrances to the airport. The most convenient option for visitors is taking a Heathrow taxi and meeting up with the other party elsewhere in the city. A sure way to avoid confusion in the big airport is arriving well in advance with information about the terminal the other person is supposed to come through.
With Heathrow airport recording the highest number of transient travellers, there are many hotels that have been constructed near the airport. They range from high-end four-star hotels to more economical budget hotels. Drivers of Heathrow taxis have an intimate knowledge of nearby hotels and can drive a visitor to any one of them within a few minutes.
