1.
Hounslow
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Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow in Greater London and is part of the historic county of Middlesex. It is a suburban district 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross, a minority of its workers are employed in Central London, to which the town is connected by rail and tube. Hounslow is part of the TW3 postcode area, though areas to the west are in TW4 instead. The population of the town, comprising the Hounslow Central, Hounslow Heath, the name Hounslow is spelt in old records as Hundeslow and similar, pointing to Anglo-Saxon Hundes hlāw, meaning the dogs mound or the mound of a man named or nicknamed Hound. Positioned on the Bath Road, Hounslow was centred around Holy Trinity Priory founded in 1211, the priory developed what had been a small village into a town with regular markets and other facilities for travellers heading to and from London. Although the priory was dissolved in 1539 the town remained an important staging post on the Bath Road, the adjacent Hounslow Heath that had been used as a military encampment by both Oliver Cromwell and James II developed a reputation as the haunt of highwaymen and footpads. Nearby important landowners included those of Osterley House, Syon House, Hanworth Park House, in 1756 Sir Thomas Morris, a distant relative of Bernard Matthews, established the base of his chicken farming empire. As a rich philanthropist who started from humble beginnings, he used his wealth to establish a school for the privileged children of the town. The building of the Great Western Railway line from London to Bristol from 1838 reduced long-distance travel along the Bath Road, by 1842 the local paper was reporting that the formerly flourishing village, which used to stable 2,000 horses, was suffering a general depreciation of property. The Hounslow Loop Line was constructed in 1850, prompting new development, the construction of the Great West Road in the 1920s attracted the building of the factories and headquarters of large companies. The factories were a local source of employment until a decline in the 1970s, attracting workers from a wide area. The settlement is also employed in the Commuter Belt with access between 45 and 60 minutes from most of Central London. DHL Air UK has its office in the Orbital Park in Hounslow. The M4 motorway is 2& mi north, its nearest junction, J3, the A315 is the historic WSW road out of London on which Hounslows High Street is placed. To the east, it bisects Isleworth, Brentford and Chiswick, to the west it bisects North Feltham and Bedfont before joining the A30. The north-south A312, The Parkway, to the west of Hounslow leads south to Hampton or north to Harrow passing Waggoners Roundabout, Hayes, Yeading, three minor roads converge on Heston from the A315 in parts of Hounslow, the A3063, A3005 and B363. For longer journeys north, the M4, A4 or A30 then M25 provides the best routes, for longer journeys south, Hanworth Road leads to the A316 that becomes the M3 motorway. Hounslow railway station, operated by South West Trains is on the line to London Waterloo station, or westwards to Reading
2.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
SkyTeam
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Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three major airline alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld. As of March 2014, SkyTeam consists of 20 carriers from five continents and it also operates a cargo alliance named SkyTeam Cargo, which partners ten carriers, all of them SkyTeam members. Its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central, is based at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. In terms of passengers, with 665.4 million carried passengers, SkyTeam has grown and is now the largest alliance in the world ahead of Star Alliance. In 2004, the alliance had its biggest expansion when Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, garuda Indonesia entered the alliance in March 2014. As of March 2014, SkyTeam flies to more than 1,000 destinations in 178 countries and operates some 15,700 daily flights with a fleet of over 4,400 aircraft. The alliance and its members have a workforce of 459,781, furthermore. On 22 June 2000, representatives of Aeroméxico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and these became the four founding carriers of SkyTeam. Upon its formation, SkyTeam would offer its customers a total of 6,402 daily flights to 451 destinations in 98 countries, in September 2000, the alliance established a cargo alliance, SkyTeam Cargo. The groups inaugural members were Aeromexpress, Air France Cargo, Delta Air Logistics, the following month, the newly established airline alliance announced its intentions to incorporate CSA Czech Airlines as the 5th member in April the following year. The alliance saw the joining of CSA Czech Airlines on 25 March 2001, Alitalia entered SkyTeam on 27 July the same year, on 30 September 2001, the alliance received KLMs application for membership, following the airlines plans to create a leading airline group with Air France. In 2003, Deltas subsidiary, Delta Express, was replaced by Song and that same year, SkyTeam also launched an improved website focused on providing passengers with more information, increased interactivity and other resources. On 24 May 2004, Aeroflot, the carrier and principal airline of Russia. The event took place in Kremlin following the airlines application earlier in the year for membership, SkyTeam expressed that Aeroflot has not met the consortiums standards, but that the airlines large hub networks made it ideal for the alliance, and made up for its deficiencies. On 28 August, China Southern Airlines, the largest carrier in the Peoples Republic of China, on 13 September, Continental Airlines, KLM and Northwest Airlines joined the alliance. Their simultaneous entry was the largest expansion event in airline alliance history, every associate adopted a frequent-flyer program of a full member, Copa Airlines already used Continentals OnePass, Kenya Airways and Air Europa used Air France–KLMs Flying Blue. Following a 23-month joining process since May 2004, Aeroflot joined on 14 April 2006 and it was the first Russian airline to be associated with any airline alliance. Aeroflot has increased its operational standards, passing International Air Transport Associations Operational Safety Audit, Deltas subsidiary Song continued to operate as Delta Air Lines
5.
Airport terminal
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An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer their luggage, the buildings that provide access to the airplanes are typically called concourses. However, the terminal and concourse are sometimes used interchangeably. Smaller airports have one terminal while larger airports have several terminals and/or concourses, at small airports, the single terminal building typically serves all of the functions of a terminal and a concourse. Some larger airports have one terminal that is connected to multiple concourses via walkways, sky-bridges, some larger airports have more than one terminal, each with one or more concourses. Still other larger airports have multiple terminals each of which incorporate the functions of a concourse, due to the rapid rise in popularity of passenger flight, many early terminals were built in the 1930s–1940s and reflected the popular art deco style architecture of the time. One such surviving example from 1940 is the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal, early airport terminals opened directly onto the tarmac, passengers would walk or take a bus to their aircraft. This design is common among smaller airports, and even many larger airports have bus gates to accommodate aircraft beyond the main terminal. A pier design uses a small, narrow building with aircraft parked on both sides, one end connects to a ticketing and baggage claim area. Piers offer high capacity and simplicity of design, but often result in a long distance from the check-in counter to the gate. A satellite terminal is a building detached from other airport buildings, the first airport to use a satellite terminal was London Gatwick Airport. It used a pedestrian tunnel to connect the satellite to the main terminal. This was also the first setup at Los Angeles International Airport, the first airport to use an automatic people mover to connect the main terminal with a satellite was Tampa International Airport, which is the standard today. Other examples include the following, Pariss Charles de Gaulle Airport, Geneva International Airport and London Gatwick Airport have circular satellite terminals, lisbon Internacional Airport has a small rectangular satellite terminal, connect by a free shuttle service. Orlando International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport have multi-pier satellite terminals, brussels Airports Pier A is connected to the main building via underground tunnels and walkways. Zurich Airports Midfield Terminal is connected to the terminal via an underground Skymetro. At Logan International Airport in Boston, Terminal A has two sections of gates, one of which is a terminal connected by an underground walkway. Denver International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have linear satellite terminals connected by central passages, the linear satellite terminals are connected by automatic people movers
6.
Heathrow Airport
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Heathrow Airport is a major international airport in London, United Kingdom. In 2016, it handled a record 75.7 million passengers, Heathrow lies 14 miles west of Central London, and has two parallel east–west runways along with four operational terminals on a site that covers 12.27 square kilometres. London Heathrow is the hub for British Airways and the primary operating base for Virgin Atlantic. In September 2012, the UK government established the Airports Commission, in July 2015, the commission backed a third runway at Heathrow and the government approved a third runway in October 2016. Heathrow is 14 mi west of central London, near the end of the London Borough of Hillingdon on a parcel of land that is designated part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. The airport is surrounded by the areas of Harlington, Harmondsworth, Longford and Cranford to the north and by Hounslow. To the south lie Bedfont and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Slough in Berkshire by the M25 motorway, Heathrow falls entirely under the TW postcode area. As the airport is west of London and as its runways run east–west, for a chronicled history of Heathrow Airport, see History of Heathrow Airport. Heathrow Airport originated in 1929 as an airfield on land south-east of the hamlet of Heathrow from which the airport takes its name. At that time there were farms, market gardens and orchards there, there was a Heathrow Farm about where Terminal 1 is now, a Heathrow Hall and a Heathrow House. This hamlet was largely along a lane which ran roughly along the east. Development of the whole Heathrow area as a much larger airport began in 1944. But by the time the airfield was nearing completion, World War II had ended, the government continued to develop the airport as a civil airport, it opened as London Airport in 1946 and was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966. Heathrow Airport is used by over 80 airlines flying to 185 destinations in 84 countries, the airport is the primary hub of British Airways and is a base for Virgin Atlantic. It has four terminals and a cargo terminal. Of Heathrows 73.4 million passengers in 2014, 93% were international travellers, the busiest single destination in passenger numbers is New York, with over 3 million passengers flying between Heathrow and JFK Airport in 2013. As the required length for runways has grown, Heathrow now has two parallel runways running east–west. These are extended versions of the two east–west runways from the original hexagram, from the air, almost all of the original runways can still be seen, incorporated into the present system of taxiways
7.
Heathrow Terminal 2
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Heathrow Terminal 2, also known as The Queens Terminal, is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London, United Kingdom. The new development was originally named Heathrow East Terminal, and occupies the sites where the previous Terminal 2 and it was designed by Luis Vidal + Architects and opened on 4 June 2014. The original Terminal 2 opened in 1955 as the Europa Building and was the airports oldest terminal, Terminal 1 closed to passengers on 30 June 2015, although as Terminal 1s baggage system is used by Terminal 2, part of it will remain operational. Terminal 1 is due to be demolished, allowing for Terminal 2 to be extended at an as yet undisclosed date, Terminal 3 is also planned to be demolished by 2019, enabling a further extension of Terminal 2. In 2015, Terminal 2 handled 16.7 million passengers on 116,861 flights and 22. 5% of the passengers on 25. 2% of its flights with an average of 130 passengers per flight. Approval for the new terminal, originally named Heathrow East, was granted by the then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, like Terminal 5, much of the building was constructed off-site, helping to overcome many of the logistical constraints of building in one of the worlds busiest international airports. The terminal is split into two connected buildings, Terminal 2A and Terminal 2B, 2A was designed by Luis Vidal + Architects and built by a joint venture between Ferrovial and Laing ORourke. 2B was designed by Grimshaw Architects, and built by Balfour Beatty, the gates in the new T2 are numbered in concourse A and concourse B. The new Terminal 2 is designed to produce 40% less carbon emissions than the buildings it has replaced. 20% of this target will be achieved through energy efficiency design technology elements, such as levels of insulation, LED lighting. Also large north-facing windows in the roof will flood the building with light, reducing the need for artificial lighting. Photovoltaic panels on the roof will further reduce dependency on energy supplies, the remaining 20% carbon reduction will be due to the new T2 Energy Centre, via biomass CHP fuelled by woodchips from local renewable resources, will provide heating and cooling to both T2 and T5. Construction of the terminal is spread across two phases, the second phase is due to begin after the demolition of Terminal 1 and will involve the construction of the second half of Terminal 2 in its place. Once complete the terminal will have a footprint and operational capacity very similar to that of Terminal 5. Phase 1 was once expected to be completed in 2012, in time for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games but, by January 2013, Terminal 2A had been declared weather-tight and the internal fit-out of the building was well under way. In spring 2013 systems installation commenced, the first phase of Terminal 2B was completed in November 2009 and its six gates became operational in early 2010. Until Terminal 2 was completed, passengers accessed the first part of Terminal 2B via a bridge from Terminal 1. Air traffic control operations had moved to a new tower in 2007
8.
Heathrow Terminal 3
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Heathrow Terminal 3 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, serving London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. Terminal 3 is currently used by Oneworld members and a few other non-affiliated airlines and it is also the base for Virgin Atlantic. Opened as The Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961, it was built to handle flight departures for long-haul routes, at this time, the airport had a direct helicopter service to Central London from the gardens on the roof of the terminal building. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building, other facilities added included the UKs first moving walkways. The terminal was refurbished between 1987 and 1990 at a cost of £110 million, in 2006, the new £105 million Pier 6 was completed to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo, Emirates and Qantas now operate regular flights from Terminal 3 using the Airbus A380. These improvements were intended to improve passengers experiences, reduce traffic congestion, as part of this project, Virgin Atlantic was assigned its own dedicated check-in area, known as Zone A, which features a large sculpture and atrium. As of 2013, Terminal 3 has an area of 98,962 square metres, Heathrow Airport Limited also has plans for a £1bn upgrade of the rest of the terminal over the next ten years which will include the renovation of aircraft piers and the arrivals forecourt. A new baggage system connecting to Terminal 5 is currently under construction, in addition to the baggage system, the baggage claim hall is also set to undergo changes with dedicated A380 belts and an improved design and layout. In May 2015, it was announced that Terminal 3 will be demolished by 2019, the main presences in Terminal 3 are American Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, who have their UK hubs located here. Emirates, with 6 A380 flights daily to Dubai, is the major user of the terminal. Terminal 3 is to be demolished in 2019, Terminal 3 is used by the majority of Oneworld alliance members, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Royal Jordanian. SriLankan Airlines, TAM and British Airways who also use Terminal 5, however it is not used by Iberia, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways. It is also used by Vueling, which is an owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group, the parent of British Airways and Iberia. Vueling, British Airways, and Finnair are the airlines offering short-haul flights from this terminal. The principal non-aligned airlines are Emirates and Virgin Atlantic, the ones are Iran Air. Delta is a SkyTeam member but has moved all flights from Terminal 4 to be alongside its partner Virgin Atlantic, middle East Airlines has also joined SkyTeam but remained in Terminal 3. Garuda Indonesia, also a SkyTeam member, uses Terminal 3, all Star Alliance airlines formerly based in Terminal 3 moved to Terminal 2 between June and September 2014 and none now fly from this terminal. Emirates, Qantas and British Airways currently operate Airbus A380 aircraft at Terminal 3, the six Emirates daily flights to Dubai use the A380, as do the two Qantas flights to Dubai, one of which continues to Sydney and 1 to Melbourne
9.
Heathrow Terminal 4 tube station
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Heathrow Terminal 4 is a London Underground station at Heathrow Airport on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line. The station is situated in Travelcard Zone 6, the station opened on 12 April 1986 to serve the then recently opened Heathrow Terminal 4. It is situated on a loop tunnel which was constructed between the existing Hatton Cross and Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 stations. The station is one of four on the London Underground to have one platform. It is adjacent to Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station used by main line Heathrow Express railway services, in-service routing took trains from Hatton Cross to Terminal 4 then Terminals 1,2,3 and back to Hatton Cross. On 7 January 2005, both the track and the station were closed temporarily in order to allow the construction of a new rail junction to link to the new Heathrow Terminal 5 station. All trains reverted to using the westbound track from Hatton Cross direct to Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 which was used prior to the opening of Heathrow Terminal 4. For passengers travelling to or from Heathrow Terminal 4, a bus was provided from Hatton Cross tube station. Until 2012, free transfer was not possible between terminals, in contrast to the Heathrow Express, in January 2012, free travel was introduced for Oyster card holders between the three Heathrow stations. However, the configuration of the means that journeys from Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3. This journey is free, despite Hatton Cross itself not being part of the free travel zone, London Buses routes 482 and 490 serve the station. Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
10.
Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station
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Heathrow Terminal 4 is a railway station serving London Heathrow Terminal 4 at London Heathrow Airport. A separate Heathrow Terminal 4 tube station caters for London Underground Piccadilly line services, transport for London Travelcards are not valid on services from the Heathrow Express station, though the tube station is in Travelcard Zone 6. Heathrow Central and Terminal 4 National Rail stations are outside the Travelcard zonal area, journeys to and from Heathrow Central on the Heathrow Connect are free of charge and can also be used by passengers changing terminals at Heathrow. Monday-Friday, the station is served by the Heathrow Express shuttle service which provides a train every 15 minutes between Terminal 4 and Heathrow Central. Additional services are provided on Sunday operated by Heathrow Connect, continuing to Paddington, Heathrow Express operate the station and tickets are sold for both Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect services. London Buses routes 482 and 490 serve the station, crossrail is planned to serve the station from 2018. Heathrow Terminal 4 tube station Train times and station information for Heathrow Terminal 4 railway station from National Rail
11.
Charles, Prince of Wales
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Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Known alternatively in South West England as Duke of Cornwall and in Scotland as Duke of Rothesay, he is the heir apparent in British history. He is also the oldest person to be next in line to the throne since Sophia of Hanover, Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. After earning a bachelor of degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons, Prince William later to become Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, in 1996, the couple divorced, following well-publicised extramarital affairs. Diana died in a car crash in Paris the following year, in 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles has sought to raise awareness of the dangers facing the natural environment. As an environmentalist, he has received awards and recognition from environmental groups around the world. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been criticised by some in the medical community and he has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles created Poundbury, a new town based on his theories. He has authored a number of books, including A Vision of Britain, A Personal View of Architecture in 1989 and he was baptised in the palaces Music Room by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on 15 December 1948. When Prince Charles was aged three his mothers accession as Queen Elizabeth II made him her heir apparent. As the monarchs eldest son, he took the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince. Charles attended his mothers coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother, as was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of five and eight. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, Charles then attended two of his fathers former schools, Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England, followed by Gordonstoun in the north-east of Scotland. He reportedly despised the school, which he described as Colditz in kilts. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy and he left in 1967, with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C, respectively. Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from school into university
12.
Diana, Princess of Wales
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Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Diana was born into a family of British nobility with royal ancestry and was the child and third daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp. She grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, in 1975, after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer, she became known as Lady Diana Spencer. She came to prominence in February 1981 when her engagement to Prince Charles was announced and her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981, held at St Pauls Cathedral, reached a global television audience of over 750 million people. While married, Diana bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, the marriage produced two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were then respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and she was celebrated for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She was involved with dozens of charities including Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. Media attention and public mourning were extensive after her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, Diana was born on 1 July 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the Spencer family has been closely allied with the British Royal Family for several generations. Both of Dianas grandmothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on 30 August 1961, Diana was baptised at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, with wealthy commoners as godparents. Diana had three siblings, Sarah, Jane, and Charles and her infant brother, John, died shortly after his birth one year before Diana was born. The desire for an added strain to the Spencers marriage. Diana grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, the Spencers leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Family frequently holidayed at the neighbouring Sandringham House, and Diana played with Princes Andrew, Diana was seven years old when her parents divorced. Her mother later had an affair with Peter Shand Kydd and married him in 1969, Diana lived with her mother in London during her parents separation in 1967, but during that years Christmas holidays, Lord Althorp refused to let Diana return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly afterwards he won custody of Diana with support from his former mother-in-law, Ruth Roche, in 1972, Lord Althorp began a relationship with Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and Dame Barbara Cartland. They married at Caxton Hall, London in 1976, as an upper-class child at the time, Diana was first educated under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen. She began her education at Silfield Private School in Gayton, Norfolk, and moved to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school near Diss
13.
British Airways
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British Airways, often shortened to BA, is the flag carrier and the largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size. When measured by passengers carried, it is second-largest in the United Kingdom behind easyJet, the airline is based in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways, after almost 13 years as a state company, British Airways was privatised in February 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government. The carrier soon expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, followed by Dan-Air in 1992, British Airways is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third-largest, after SkyTeam, IAG is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE100 Index. A long-time Boeing customer, British Airways ordered 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft in August 1998, in 2007 it purchased 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, marking the start of its long-haul fleet replacement. The centrepiece of the airlines fleet is the Boeing 777. British Airways is the largest operator of the Boeing 747-400, with 51 registered to the airline, on 1 September 1972 the management service functions of both BOAC and BEA were combined under the newly formed British Airways Group. British Airways was established as an airline on 31 March 1974 by the dissolution of BOAC, British Airways and Air France operated the supersonic airliner Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde, and the worlds first supersonic passenger service flew in January 1976 from London Heathrow to Bahrain. Services to the US began on 24 May 1976 with a flight to Washington Dulles airport, service to Singapore was established in co-operation with Singapore Airlines as a continuation of the flight to Bahrain. The final commercial Concorde flight was BA002 from New York JFK to London Heathrow on 24 October 2003, in 1981 the airline was instructed to prepare for privatisation by the Conservative Thatcher government. Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed chairman, while many other large airlines struggled, King was credited with transforming British Airways into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world. The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987, British Airways effected the takeover of the UKs second airline, British Caledonian, in July of that same year. The formation of Richard Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 created a competitor for BA and this campaign included allegations of poaching Virgin Atlantic customers, tampering with private files belonging to Virgin and undermining Virgins reputation in the City. As a result of the case BA management apologised unreservedly, Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by his deputy, Colin Marshall, while Bob Ayling took over as CEO. Virgin filed an action in the US that same year regarding BAs domination of the trans-Atlantic routes. In 1992 British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled Dan-Air, British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed in March 1993 to operate between London and Taipei. That same month BA purchased a 25% stake in the Australian airline Qantas and, with the acquisition of Brymon Airways in May, in September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Canadian Airlines, formed the Oneworld airline alliance
14.
Heathrow Terminal 5
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Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London. Opened in 2008, the building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Prior to 2012, the terminal was used solely by British Airways, the terminal was designed to handle 35 million passengers a year. In 2015, Terminal 5 handled 33.1 million passengers on 215,716 flights,44. 6% of the passengers on 46. 6% of its flights with an average of 153 passengers per flight. It was the busiest terminal at the airport, measured both by passenger numbers and flight movements, the buildings leading architects were from the Richard Rogers Partnership and production design was completed by aviation architects Pascall+Watson. The engineers for the structure were Arup and Mott MacDonald, the building cost £4 billion and took almost 20 years from conception to completion, including the longest public inquiry in British history. Planning studies for the terminal commenced in February 1988 and Richard Rogers was selected to design the terminal in 1989, Rogers compared his design to the Centre Pompidou, an earlier project that has similar flexibility in the use of its space. BAA formally announced its proposal for construction of T5 in May 1992, a public inquiry into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending on 17 March 1999 after sitting for 525 days. The inquiry, based at the Renaissance Hotel Heathrow, was the longest planning inquiry ever held in the UK, construction, which was undertaken by Laing ORourke, began in September 2002, with earthworks for the construction of the buildings foundation. A preparatory archaeological dig at the site more than 80,000 artefacts. In November of the year, work started on the steel superstructure of the main terminal building. By January 2005, the nine tunnels needed to provide road and rail access, in March that year, the sixth and final section of the main terminal roof was lifted into position, and in December the building was made weatherproof. The roof could not have been lifted with conventional cranes because it would have penetrated vertically into the radar field. Therefore, the roof was assembled on the ground using smaller cranes, then lifted into place by eight custom-built towers, each fitted with two hydraulic jacks to pull the roof up. At peak there were around 8,000 people working on the construction site, over 15,000 volunteers were recruited for a total of 68 trials lasting from September 2007 until March 2008 to test the operational readiness of Terminal 5 prior to its opening. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Terminal 5 in a ceremony on 14 March 2008, used exclusively by British Airways, the terminal opened for passenger use on 27 March 2008, with flight BA26 from Hong Kong its first arrival at 04,50 GMT. On the day of opening, it became apparent that the new terminal was not operating as planned, forcing British Airways to cancel 34 flights. Over the following 10 days some 42,000 bags failed to travel with their owners, British Airways was not able to operate its full schedule from Terminal 5 until 8 April 2008 and had to postpone the transfer of its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5
15.
Gatwick Airport
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Gatwick Airport is a major international airport in south-east England,29.5 miles south of Central London and 2.7 nautical miles north of Crawley. It is the second-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the United Kingdom. Gatwick is the eighth-busiest airport in Europe, Gatwick opened as an aerodrome in the late 1920s, and has been in use for commercial flights since 1933. The airport has two terminals, the North Terminal and the South Terminal, which areas of 98,000 m2 and 160,000 m2 respectively. It operates as a airport, using a main runway with a length of 3,316 m. A secondary runway is available but, due to its proximity to the main runway, in 2016,43.1 million passengers passed through the airport, a 7. 1% increase compared with 2015. The land on which Gatwick Airport stands was first developed as an aerodrome in the late 1920s, the Air Ministry approved commercial flights from the site in 1933, and the first terminal, The Beehive, was built in 1935. Scheduled air services from the new terminal began the following year, major development work at the airport took place during the 1950s. The airport buildings were designed by Yorke Rosenberg Mardall between 1955 and 1988, further rapid growth of charter flights at Gatwick was encouraged by the Ministry of Aviation, which instructed airlines to move regular charter flights from Heathrow. Following the takeover of BUA by Caledonian Airways at the beginning of the following decade, while continuing to dominate scheduled operations at Gatwick for most of the 1980s, BCal was also one of the airports major charter airlines until the end of the 1970s. Following the demise of Air Europe and Dan-Air in the early 1990s and these moves resulted in BA becoming Gatwicks dominant airline by the turn of the millennium. BAs subsequent decision to de-hub Gatwick provided the space for EasyJet to establish its biggest base at the airport, BAA Limited and its predecessors, BAA plc and the British Airports Authority, owned and operated Gatwick from 1 April 1966 to 2 December 2009. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US. US Airways, Gatwicks last remaining US carrier, ended service from Gatwick on 30 March 2013 and this leaves Gatwick without a scheduled US airline for the first time in nearly 40 years. On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick after the Competition Commission published a report about BAAs market dominance in London, the sale was completed on 3 December. The sales were part of GIPs strategy to syndicate the equity portion of the acquisition by issuing bonds to refinance bank debt. Although this entails bringing additional investors into the airport, GIP aims to retain management control, the Californian state pension fund CalPERS acquired a 12. 7% stake in Gatwick Airport for about $155 million in June 2010. This transaction completed GIPs syndication process for the airport, reducing its stake to 42%, the airport is owned and operated by Gatwick Airport Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ivy Holdco Limited
16.
Boeing 747
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The Boeing 747 is an American wide-body commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet. Its distinctive hump upper deck along the part of the aircraft makes it among the worlds most recognizable aircraft. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years, as of January 2017, the 747 has been involved in 60 hull losses, resulting in 3722 fatalities. The four-engine 747 uses a configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions, the 747 was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold, but it exceeded critics expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993. By February 2017,1,528 aircraft had been built, the 747-400, the most common passenger version in service, has a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0. 85–0.855 with an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles. The newest version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production, deliveries of the 747-8F freighter version began in October 2011, deliveries of the 747-8I passenger version began in May 2012. In 1963, the United States Air Force started a series of projects on a very large strategic transport aircraft. The payload bay had to be 17 feet wide by 13.5 feet high and 100 feet long with access doors at the front. Featuring only four engines, the design required new engine designs with greatly increased power and better fuel economy. After a downselect, Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed were given study contracts for the airframe, along with General Electric. All three of the airframe proposals shared a number of features, as the CX-HLS needed to be able to be loaded from the front, a door had to be included where the cockpit usually was. In 1965 Lockheeds aircraft design and General Electrics engine design were selected for the new C-5 Galaxy transport, the nose door and raised cockpit concepts would be carried over to the design of the 747. The 747 was conceived while air travel was increasing in the 1960s, the era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, had revolutionized long-distance travel. In 1965, Joe Sutter was transferred from Boeings 737 development team to manage the design studies for a new airliner, Sutter initiated a design study with Pan Am and other airlines, to better understand their requirements. At the time, it was thought that the 747 would eventually be superseded by supersonic transport aircraft. Boeing responded by designing the 747 so that it could be adapted easily to carry freight, in the freighter role, the clear need was to support the containerized shipping methodologies that were being widely introduced at about the same time. Standard containers are 8 ft square at the front and available in 20 and 40 ft lengths and this meant that it would be possible to support a 2-wide 2-high stack of containers two or three ranks deep with a fuselage size similar to the earlier CX-HLS project
17.
Etihad Airways
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Etihad Airways is a flag carrier and the second-largest airline of the UAE. Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad commenced operations in November 2003. In 2015, Etihad carried 14.8 million passengers, a 22. 3% increase from the year, delivering revenues of US$9.02 billion. Its main base is Abu Dhabi International Airport, in addition to its core activity of passenger transportation, Etihad also operates Etihad Holidays and Etihad Cargo. Etihad established its own alliance, Etihad Airways Partners, in 2015. Booking for these airlines is consolidated under one network, as of 12 October 2016, Etihad Airways is rated as one of a small number of 5-star airlines by Skytrax. The name Etihad is an informal romanisation of إتّحاد ittiḥād, which means union, Etihad Airways was established as the second flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates in July 2003 by Royal Decree issued by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who wanted an airline for Abu Dhabi. Darwish Alkhoory, the personal pilot for Sheikh Zayed, established the airline. It started with an initial capital of AED500 million. Services were launched with a flight to Al Ain on 5 November 2003. On 12 November 2003, Etihad commenced commercial operations with the launch of services to Beirut, prior to the establishment of Etihad, Gulf Air was the airline which was based at Abu Dhabi International Airport and was also co-owned by Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman. In June 2004, the placed a US$8-billion aircraft order for five Boeing 777-300ERs and 24 Airbus aircraft. Its first A380 was delivered in December 2014, the airline announced what was the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history at the Farnborough Airshow in 2008, for up to 205 aircraft—100 firm orders,55 options and 50 purchase rights. Etihad reported its first full-year net profit in 2011, of US$14 million, in December 2011, Etihad announced it had taken a 29. 21% stake in Air Berlin, Europes sixth largest airline, and James Hogan was appointed Vice Chairman. It followed this up with minority stakes in other airlines—Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, the Serbian Government retained 51% of the shares. The new company is named Air Serbia, in 2013, Etihad Airways planned to buy a stake in the airline following the governments announcement in September 2012 that foreign airlines could take a stake of up to 49% in Indian carriers. At the 2013 Dubai Airshow, Etihad announced that it was acquiring a 33. 3% stake in the Swiss carrier Darwin Airline, Darwin was rebranded as Etihad Regional from March 2014. On 1 August 2014, Etihad agreed to take a 49% stake in the Italian flag carrier Alitalia for an estimated €560 million, the deal was closed on 8 August 2014
18.
Malaysia Airlines
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Malaysia Airlines is the flag carrier of Malaysia and a member of the oneworld airline alliance. The companys headquarters are located at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia Airlines owns two subsidiary airlines, Firefly and MASwings. Firefly operates scheduled flights from its two home bases Penang International Airport and Subang International Airport, the airline focuses on tertiary cities. Malaysia Airlines has a freighter operated by MASkargo, which manages freighter flights. The airline began as Malayan Airways Limited and flew its first commercial flight in 1947, Malayan Airways was headquartered in Singapore. In 2013, the airline initiated a plan after large losses beginning in 2011 and cut routes to prominent. Malaysia Airlines also began a restructuring and intended to sell units such as engineering. In 2014, Malaysia Airlines lost two aircraft—Flight 370 and Flight 17—less than five months apart, exacerbating the airlines financial troubles and leading to the renationalisation of the airline. Prior to 2014, MAS had one of the worlds best safety records—just two fatal accidents in 68 years of operation, including the hijacking in 1977 of Flight 653 that resulted in 100 deaths. In 1947, the airline began as Malayan Airways, being renamed Malaysian Airways after Malaysia gained independence, after that, it changed its name once more to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. MSA ceased operations in 1972, and two airlines were born — Malaysian Airline System and Singapore Airlines, scheduled air passenger and mail services in Malaya commenced in 1937 when Wearnes Air Service commenced operating services between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Wearnes Air Service was started by two Australian brothers, Theodore and Charles Wearnes, the service commenced as a thrice weekly flight between Singapore and Penang. The first flight, using an 8-seater de Havilland DH. 89A enabled the expansion to daily services as well as the addition of Ipoh as a destination, during World War II, WAS services ceased after the Japanese occupation of Malaya and Singapore in 1941. After the war, MAL was restructured to include just the partnership of Straits Steamship, the airlines first flight was a charter flight from the British Straits Settlement of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, on 2 April 1947, using an Airspeed Consul twin-engined aircraft. This inaugural flight on the Raja Udang, with five passengers. Weekly scheduled flights quickly followed from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, by 1955, Malayan Airways fleet had grown to include a large number of Douglas DC-3s, and finally went public in 1957. Over the next few years, the airline expanded rapidly, boosted by post-war air travel demand when flying became more than a privilege for the rich and famous. By April 1960, the airline was operating Douglas DC-3s, Super Constellations and Viscounts on new routes from Singapore to Hong Kong, flights were also introduced from Singapore to cities in the Borneo Territories, including Brunei, Jesselton, Kuching, Sandakan and Sibu
19.
Gulf Air
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Gulf Air is the principal flag carrier of Bahrain. Headquartered in Muharraq, adjacent to Bahrain International Airport, the airline operates scheduled services to 41 destinations in 23 countries across Africa, Asia and its main base is Bahrain International Airport. The airline, which has suffered losses in recent years, has an ongoing restructuring programme to limit operating losses. In the late 1940s, Freddie Bosworth, a British pilot and entrepreneur, began an air service to Doha. Bosworth later expanded service and, on 24 March 1950, registered Gulf Aviation Company Limited as a shareholding company. This makes its current operating company, Gulf Air, one of the oldest carriers in the Middle East, the early fleet contained seven Avro Ansons and three de Havilland DH. 86B four-engine biplanes. In October 1951, British Overseas Airways Corporation became a shareholder in Gulf Aviation. In 1973 the governments of the Emirate of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the Foundation Treaty was signed on 1 January 1974 and gave each government a 25% shareholding in Gulf Aviation, which became a holding company. The operating company was now branded as Gulf Air and became the carrier for the four states. The fleet comprised four Vickers VC10, three BAC One-Elevens, two Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 200s and five Boeing 737–200s, in 1978, the airline doubled the Tristar fleet to replace the VC10s. Meanwhile, the airline increased the Boeing 737 fleet to nine, the 1980s saw an increase in air travel and growth for Gulf Air. In 1981, Gulf Air became an IATA member, and in the year became the first international airline to land at Riyadh. In 1985, Emirates, the national carrier of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, began operating. In 1988, Boeing 767s joined the fleet, and the airline launched service to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Damascus, Dar es Salaam, Fujairah and Nairobi, Gulf Air celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1990. The light-blue and peach Balenciaga-designed uniform was introduced, services to Singapore, Sydney and Thiruvananthapuram were launched, Gulf Air thereby becoming the first Arab airline to fly to Australia. Gulf Air added services to Johannesburg and Melbourne in 1992, becoming the first Arab airline to fly directly to these cities. In 1993, it opened a centre in Qatar, and introduced service to Casablanca, Entebbe, Jakarta, Kilimanjaro, Madras, Rome, Sana, Zanzibar. In May 1994, Gulf Air received its first Airbus A340-300, a no-smoking policy was established in 1998 on flights to Singapore and Australia, which was later extended through its whole network
20.
Qatar Airways
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Operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar. Qatar Airways Group employs more than 40,000 people, of whom 24,000 work directly for Qatar Airways, the carrier has been a member of the Oneworld alliance since October 2013, the first Gulf carrier to sign with one of the three airline alliances. Qatar Airways was established on November 22,1993, operations started on January 20,1994, amman was first served in May 1994. In April 1995, the airlines CEO was the Sheikh Hamad Bin Ali Bin Jabor Al Thani who employed a staff of 75, during 1995, two ex-All Nippon Airways Boeing 747s were bought from Boeing. The airline acquired a second-hand Boeing 747SP from Air Mauritius in 1996, Services to Athens, Istanbul, Madras and Tunis were suspended in late 1996, whereas Calcutta and Muscat were removed from the route network in January and September 1997, respectively. Flights to London were launched during 1997, the airline also took delivery of two second-hand 231-seater Airbus A300-600R aircraft on lease from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services during the year, they replaced two Boeing 747s. The entering of these two A300s into the fleet also marked the introduction of a new logo, a third A300-600R joined the fleet shortly afterwards, also on lease from AWAS. In July 1998 the carrier placed an order with Airbus for six Airbus A320s. The airline took delivery of the first A320 powered by Aero Engines V2500 on lease from SALE in February 1999, a fourth A300-600R on lease from AWAS joined the fleet in April 2000. In October 2000, Qatar Airways ordered an International Aero Engines V2500-powered Airbus A319CJ, the airline became the Airbus A380s ninth customer in 2001 when two aircraft of the type were ordered, plus two options. Also that year, the airline resumed services to Jakarta, in 2002, the government of Qatar withdrew from Gulf Air. In June 2003, a Qatar Airways Airbus A320 was the first aircraft that resumed the services to Iraq when it flew the Doha–Basra route. Also that month, Qatar Airways incorporated its first dedicated aircraft to the fleet. It was an Airbus A300-600R that was converted to freighter in Germany for US$10 million. Also in June 2003, at the Paris Air Show, the placed a order with Airbus valued at US$5.1 billion for two Airbus A321s,14 Airbus A330s and two Airbus A340-600s. The deal included eight A330-200s and six -300s, it also included options for further six A330-300s, the first aircraft were scheduled to enter the fleet in 2004, with the A340-600 slated for delivery in 2006. During the year the airline started serving the Chinese market with the introduction of flights to Shanghai, also in 2003, the carrier expanded its portfolio of destinations with the commencement of services to Manchester in April, Tripoli in November, and Cebu and Singapore in December. During the 2003 Dubai Air Show the airline firmed up a commitment for two Airbus A380s and took options for another two of these aircraft
21.
Airbus A380
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The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by European manufacturer Airbus. It is the worlds largest passenger airliner, and the airports at which it operates have upgraded facilities to accommodate it and it was initially named Airbus A3XX and designed to challenge Boeings monopoly in the large-aircraft market. The A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and entered service on 25 October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. The A380s upper deck extends along the length of the fuselage. The A380-800 has a range of 8,500 nautical miles, serving the second- and third-longest non-stop scheduled flights in the world. As of February 2017, Airbus had received 317 firm orders and delivered 208 aircraft, mcDonnell Douglas unsuccessfully offered its smaller, double-deck MD-12 concept for sale. Roeder was given approval for further evaluations of the UHCA after a presentation to the President. The megaproject was announced at the 1990 Farnborough Air Show, with the goal of 15% lower operating costs than the 747-400. Airbus organised four teams of designers, one each of its partners to propose new technologies for its future aircraft designs. The designs were presented in 1992 and the most competitive designs were used and this joint study was abandoned two years later, Boeings interest having declined because analysts thought that such a product was unlikely to cover the projected $15 billion development cost. Despite the fact only two airlines had expressed public interest in purchasing such a plane, Airbus was already pursuing its own large-plane project. In June 1994, Airbus announced its plan to develop its own very large airliner, Airbus considered several designs, including an unusual side-by-side combination of two fuselages from its A340, the largest Airbus jet at the time. The A3XX was pitted against the VLCT study and Boeings own New Large Aircraft successor to the 747. From 1997 to 2000, as the East Asian financial crisis darkened the market outlook, Airbus refined its design, the A380 designation was a break from previous Airbus families, which had progressed sequentially from A300 to A340. It was chosen because the number 8 resembles the double-deck cross section, the aircraft configuration was finalised in early 2001, and manufacturing of the first A380 wing-box component started on 23 January 2002. The development cost of the A380 had grown to €11-14 billion when the first aircraft was completed, major structural sections of the A380 are built in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. A380 components are provided by suppliers from around the world, the four largest contributors, by value, are Rolls-Royce, Safran, United Technologies, for the surface movement of large A380 structural components, a complex route known as the Itinéraire à Grand Gabarit was developed. The front and rear sections are shipped on one of three RORO ships from Hamburg in northern Germany to the United Kingdom
22.
Garuda Indonesia
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Garuda Indonesia is the national airline of Indonesia. Named after the holy bird Garuda of Hinduism from the emblem of Indonesia. As of 11 December 2014, the airline is rated as a 5-star airline by the international airline review firm Skytrax, the air carrier was previously known as Garuda Indonesian Airways. Founded in 1947 as KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, the airline is now one of the worlds leading airlines, the airline also operated a budget subsidiary Citilink, which provided low-cost flights to multiple Indonesian destinations and was spun-off in 2012. KNILM was dissolved in 1947, and its assets were transferred to a new KLM subsidiary, KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, in Hindu mythology, Garuda is the name of Lord Vishnus mount. The line was mentioned by Sukarno during the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference at The Hague, the first aircraft was a DC-3 known as Seulawah and was purchased for a sum of 120,000 Malayan dollars, which was provided by the people of Aceh. Throughout the revolution, Garuda supported national interests, and often carried diplomats on its flights, the Burmese government helped the airline significantly during its beginnings. The countrys national airline, Union of Burma Airways, often chartered one of the airlines DC-3s for its own flights, accordingly, upon Garudas formal joint incorporation with KLM on 31 March 1950, the airline presented the Burmese government with a DC-3 as a gift. The airlines fleet continued to grow throughout the 1960s, during which time the airline continued its expansion, Rome and Paris became the airlines third and fourth European destinations, with flights stopping in Bombay and Cairo to refuel. Flights to the Peoples Republic of China began that year, with service to Canton via Phnom Penh. During the early 1970s, Garuda Indonesia took delivery of both the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Fokker F28 Fellowship for its short and medium-haul operations, the airline went on to take delivery of 62 F28s, holding the title for the largest operator of the F28 in the world. The DC-10 would become an part of the Garuda fleet for the years to come, outlasting the newer McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. Afterwards, in 1980, the airline took delivery of the first Boeing 747-200, on 21 June 1982, Garuda became the launch customer of the Airbus A300B4-220FFCC, which was the first variant of the A300 capable of being operated with two pilots instead of three. By 1984, nine of these were in service, supplemented by 8 Douglas DC-10s,24 Douglas DC-9s,45 Fokker F-28s, however, this move was later on applauded as vital for the reputation and corporate identity of Garuda Indonesia as the national airline. In 1990, the airline took delivery of the Douglas MD-11s, which replaced the DC-10 on flights to Europe. During this time, the airline operated a fleet of the aforementioned MD-11s, DC-10s,747, Airbus A300 and Boeing 737-400, operating it to destinations throughout Asia, Europe and North America. That same year, the placed a order for six Boeing 777 aircraft, due for delivery in 2000, however. As a result, its order for the Boeing 777 was deferred
23.
Middle East Airlines
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It operates scheduled international flights to Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa from its base at Rafic Hariri International Airport. Middle East Airlines is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, the Arab Air Carriers Organization, the airline expressed its interest in becoming a SkyTeam associate member in early 2006 at a press conference in New York. On 28 February 2011, MEA officially signed the agreement with SkyTeam in an official ceremony in Beirut. On 28 June 2012, MEA officially joined SkyTeam to become its 17th member, Middle East Airlines was founded on 31 May 1945 by Saeb Salam and Fawzi EL-Hoss with operational and technical support from BOAC. Operations started on 1 January 1946 using three de Havilland DH. 89A Dragon Rapides on flights between Beirut and Nicosia, followed by flights to Iraq, Egypt and Syria, two Douglas DC-3s were acquired in mid-1946. Pan American World Airways acquired a stake and management contract in September 1949, pan Am was replaced when BOAC acquired 49% of MEAs shares in 1955. A Vickers Viscount was introduced in October 1955 while an Avro York cargo aircraft was leased in June 1957, on 15 December 1960 the first of four de Havilland Comet 4Cs arrived. After the association with BOAC ended on 16 August 1961, MEA was merged with Air Liban on 7 June 1963, the full title was then Middle East Airlines – Air Liban. In 1963 MEA also took over Lebanese International Airways, the current name was adopted in November 1965 when the airline was completely merged with Air Liban. A Boeing 747-200B entered service in June 1975 on the Beirut – London route, Airbus A310-300s were acquired in 1993 and 1994, followed by an A321-200 in 1997 and the A330-200 in 2001. From 1998 to 2002, MEA implemented its largest restructuring program ever which helped to turn it around from an airline to a profitable one by 2003. On June 28,2012, Middle East Airlines joined the SkyTeam alliance to become its 17th member, the airline has introduced self check-in kiosks at Beiruts international airport as of July 2010. The airline is planning on launching the Arabesk Airline Alliance with six other Arab carriers. Their future plans include floating about 25% of their shares on the Beirut Stock Exchange as part of a plan to fully privatize the airline. A majority of the airline is owned by the bank of Lebanon, Banque du Liban. In November 2011, the chairman unlawfully terminated the employment of a pilot who had cancer and this has forced the pilot union to go on strike as of November 29,2011. MEA offers only two classes of travel on all of its flights, Business Class and Economy Class, neither First Class nor Premium Economy Class are offered. Middle East Airlines flies to the Middle East, Europe, copenhagen, Medina and Nice are destinations that are served seasonally
24.
Delta Air Lines
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Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major American airline, with its headquarters and largest hub at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. Regional service is operated under the brand name Delta Connection, One of the five remaining legacy carriers, Delta is the sixth-oldest operating airline by foundation date, and the oldest airline still operating in the United States. The companys history can be traced back to Huff Daland Dusters, founded in 1924 in Macon, Georgia as a crop dusting operation. The company moved to Monroe, Louisiana, and was later renamed Delta Air Services, in reference to the nearby Mississippi Delta region, among predecessors of todays Delta Air Lines, Western Airlines and Northwest Airlines began flying passengers in 1926 and 1927, respectively. In 2013, Delta Air Lines was the worlds largest airline in terms of scheduled passengers carried, Delta Air Lines began as a crop dusting operation called Huff Daland Dusters, Incorporated. The company was founded on May 30,1924 in Macon, Georgia and they flew a Huff-Daland Duster, the first true crop duster, designed to combat the boll weevil infestation of cotton crops. Collett E. Woolman, one of the directors, purchased the company on September 13,1928. Service began on June 17,1929 with the flight between Dallas, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi. Delta moved its headquarters to its current location in Atlanta in 1941, and continued to grow through the addition of routes and they replaced propeller planes with jets in the 1960s and entered international competition to Europe in the 1970s and across the Pacific in the 1980s. Deltas more recent history is marked by its emergence from bankruptcy on April 25,2007, the merger was announced April 14,2008, and was set to create the worlds largest airline. After approval of the merger on October 29,2008, Northwest continued to operate as an owned subsidiary of Delta until December 31,2009 when both carriers operating certificates were merged. Delta completed the integration with Northwest on January 31,2010 when their reservation systems and websites were combined, Delta Air Lines as it exists today is the result of numerous mergers over its history. Predecessor carriers forming the current Delta Air Lines include, Chicago, Delta flew under the carrier name of Delta-C&S for the following two years. After successfully introducing 50-seat planes into the United States, it was acquired by Delta in October 1999, Comair became the main carrier of Delta Connection and operated over 400 daily flights from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport throughout the U. S. Mexico, and Caribbean. Comair ceased operations on September 29,2012, and was folded into Delta Connection operations, Delta Express began service in October 1996 in an attempt by Delta to compete with low cost airlines on leisure-oriented routes. Its main base of operations was Orlando International Airport and it used Boeing 737–200 aircraft and it ceased operations in November 2003 after Song was established. Song began service on April 15,2003 as an airline operated by Delta to compete directly with JetBlue Airways from both airlines hub at New York–JFK. While the brand was considered an addition to the Northeast-to-Florida market
25.
Virgin Atlantic
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Virgin Atlantic, a trade name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, United Kingdom. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and was planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company after disagreements with Sir Richard Branson over the management of the company, the maiden flight from London Gatwick to Newark Liberty International Airport took place on 22 June 1984. The airline along with Virgin Holidays is controlled by a company, Virgin Atlantic Limited. It is administratively separate from other Virgin-branded airlines, the airline also operates flights from Glasgow and seasonal flights from Belfast. Virgin Atlantic aircrafts consist of 3 cabins, Economy, Premium Economy, in 2012, Virgin Atlantic carried 5.4 million passengers, making it the seventh-largest UK airline in terms of passenger volume. In the year to 31 December 2013, it reported a £51 million group pre-tax loss, however, Randolph Fields, an American-born lawyer, and Alan Hellary, a former chief pilot for Laker Airways, set up British Atlantic Airways as a successor to Laker Airways. Fields had the idea for an airline operates between London and the Falkland Islands in June 1982, when the Falklands War had just finished. Fields needed expertise, and contacted Alan Hellary, who had also been thinking about establishing a commercial service to the Falklands. Hellary was in contact with colleagues out of following the collapse of Laker Airways. However, the runway at Port Stanley Airport and the time it would take to improve it made the scheme unviable. Instead, Hellary and Fields tried to secure a licence from Gatwick Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, a three-day inquiry in May 1983 rejected the application after British Airways, British Caledonian, and BAA objected. Hellary and Fields then applied for a licence between Gatwick and Newark, using a 380-seat McDonnell Douglas DC-10, however, faced with the prospect of direct competition from People Express, a post-deregulation no frills discount airline at Newark, they decided to secure more funding before proceeding. Fields met Richard Branson at a party in London during which he proposed a business partnership, after protracted and testy negotiations, Fields agreed to a reduced stake of 25% in the airline and became its first chairman. Following disagreements over operations, Fields agreed to be out for an initial sum of £1 million with further payment on Virgins first dividend. As a result of a High Court action, this payment was received shortly before Fields death in 1997. Part of Richard Bransons approach to business is to succeed within the first year or exit the market and this includes a one-year limit on everything associated with starting up. Virgin Atlantic became profitable within the first 12 months, aided by sister company Virgin Records ability to finance the lease of a secondhand Boeing 747, the firm timed operations to take advantage of a full summer, from June to September, the most profitable period of the year
26.
Oneworld
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Oneworld is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliances stated objective is to be the airline alliance for the worlds frequent international travelers. Its central alliance office is based in New York City in the United States. As of August 2016, Oneworld is the third largest global alliance in terms of passengers more than 557.4 million passengers carried, behind Star Alliance. Its slogan is An alliance of the worlds leading airlines working as one, Oneworld announced the formation of a central alliance team, the Oneworld Management Company, in February 2000, to mark the alliances first anniversary. The oMC was established in May 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and it acts as the alliances central secretariat, with responsibility for driving future growth and the launch of new customer services and benefits. Bruce Ashby, who previously held roles of CEO of Saudi Arabias SAMA Airlines, CEO of Indias IndiGo, rob Gurney succeeded Ashby as CEO in October,2016. Reporting to the CEO are Vice-Presidents for Commercial, Membership and Customer Experience, and Corporate Communications, a Chief Financial Officer, the CEO reports to the Oneworld Governing Board, which is made up of the chief executives of each of the member airlines. The Governing Board meets regularly to set strategic direction and review progress, chairmanship of the board rotates among the alliance members chief executives. Cathay Pacific CEO Ivan Chu currently has the role, Oneworld was unveiled by its founding members, American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas at a press conference in London, United Kingdom, on 21 September 1998. Oneworld was officially launched and became operational on 1 February 1999, at its launch in 1999, Oneworlds member airlines and their affiliates served 648 destinations in 139 countries, and carried 181 million passengers with a fleet of 1,577 aircraft. Finnair, Finlands largest airline and flag carrier, was the alliances first new recruit on 9 December 1998, the alliance welcomed Iberia, Spains flag carrier, as its second recruit on 15 February 1999. Both airlines, together with Iberias franchisee, Iberia Regional Air Nostrum, joined the alliance on 1 September 1999, on 19 May 1999, LanChile became a member-elect, the alliances first representative from Latin America. LanChiles two subsidiaries, LAN Express and LAN Perú, would join the alliance. Irish carrier Aer Lingus was formally elected on board and confirmed as the member of the alliance on 2 December 1999. As LanChile and Aer Lingus joined on 1 June 2000, Canadian Airlines left the alliance, following the purchase by Air Canada. However, Swiss later decided not to proceed with key elements of its agreement with British Airways and was released from its commitment to join Oneworld. Swiss was later taken over by Lufthansa in 2005 and joined Star Alliance in 2006, the mid-2000s saw Oneworld undertake one of the biggest expansions in its history
27.
SriLankan Airlines
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SriLankan Airlines is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka. It was launched in 1979 as Air Lanka, following the termination of operations of the original Sri Lankan flag carrier Air Ceylon, following its partial acquisition in 1998 by Emirates, it was re-branded and introduced the current livery. After ending the Emirates partnership, it has continued using its re-branded name, the airline operates to 94 destinations from its main hub located at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo. SriLankan Airlines joined the Oneworld airline alliance on 1 May 2014, Air Lanka was established as the flag carrier of Sri Lanka once the Sri Lankan government shut down the bankrupt Air Ceylon. Air Lankas initial fleet consisted of two Boeing 707, leased from Singapore Airlines, one Boeing 737 was leased from Maersk Air and maintained by Air Tara. On 24 April 1980, the lease ended, Air Lanka received a replacement Boeing 737 leased from Royal Brunei, on 1 November 1980, Air Lanka commenced wide-body operations with a leased Lockheed L1011-1 Tristar from Air Canada. On 15 April 1982, Air Lanka received its own L1011 purchased from All Nippon Airways, with introduction of Tristar aircraft, the Boeing 707s were phased out and sold. Then another L1011 was leased from Air Canada whilst the third L1011 was purchased from All Nippon, on 1 May 1982, HAECO took over the maintenance of the two Air Lanka-owned Tristars, while Air Canada maintained two leased Tristars. On 28 March 1980, Air Lanka signed an agreement for two brand new Lockheed L1011-500 Tristars, the most advanced wide-body aircraft in the world at that time. The first Lockheed L1011-500 was accepted on 26 August 1982, at Palmdale and it was flown to Amsterdam as UL flight 566P. On 28 August 4R-ULA City Of Colombo left for its flight from Amsterdam to Colombo as UL566. It reached Colombo on 29 August and this was followed by second Lockheed L1011-500, 4R-ULB, City Of Jayawardanapura. On 8 June 1984 the airline received its first Boeing 747-200B King Vijaya, the aircraft were used on flights to Europe and a few flights to southeast Asia. This agreement included rights for all aircraft ground handling and airline catering at Colombo-Bandaranaike airport for a ten-year period. Emirates bought a 40% stake worth US$70 million in Air Lanka, the government retained a majority stake in the airline, but gave full control to Emirates for investment and management decisions. In 1998, the Air Lanka re-branded to SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan acquired 6 Airbus A330-200s to complement its fleet of Airbus A340-300 and A320-200 aircraft. The A330-200 aircraft joined the airline between October 1999 and July 2000, the company’s fourth A340-300 arrived at Colombo painted in the airline’s new corporate livery. SriLankan upgraded its existing A340 fleet into a two-class configuration whilst overhauling the interior to reflect the new corporate image, the airline gradually increased its number of destinations with more additions for regional markets, notably India and the Middle East
28.
Air India
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Air India is the flag carrier airline of India and the third-largest airline in India in terms of passengers carried, after IndiGo and Jet Airways. It is owned by Air India Limited, a Government of India enterprise and it is headquartered in New Delhi. Air India has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Air India became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014, after World War II, it became a public limited company and was renamed as Air India. On 21 February 1960, it took delivery of its first Boeing 707–420 named Gauri Shankar, in 2000–01, attempts were made to privatise Air India and from 2006 onwards, it suffered losses after its merger with Indian Airlines. Air India also operates flights to domestic and Asian destinations through its subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express, Air India uses the Airbus A320 family and Boeing 787 aircraft for selected domestic routes while long distance services use the Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR,747 and 787 aircraft. Air Indias mascot is the Maharajah and the logo consists of a swan with the wheel of Konark inside it. Air India had its origin in Tata Sons, founded by J. R. D. Tata, in April 1932, Tata won a contract to carry mail for Imperial Airways and the aviation department of Tata Sons was formed with two single-engine de Havilland Puss Moths. On 15 October 1932, Tata flew a Puss Moth carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay and the continued to Madras piloted by Nevill Vintcent. The airline fleet consisted of a Puss Moth aircraft and a Leopard Moth, initial service included weekly airmail service between Karachi and Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay. In its first year of operation, the airline flew 160,000 miles, carrying 155 passengers and 9.72 tonnes of mail, later, the airline launched a domestic flight from Bombay to Trivandrum with a six-seater Miles Merlin. In 1938, it was re-christened as Tata Air Services and later as Tata Airlines, Delhi and Colombo were added to the destinations in 1938. During the Second World War, the airline helped the Royal Air Force with troop movements, shipping of supplies, rescue of refugees and maintenance of planes. After World War II, regular service was restored in India. After the Indian independence in 1947, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India in 1948, on 8 June 1948, a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess took off from Bombay bound for London Heathrow marking the airlines first international flight. In 1953, the Government of India passed the Air Corporations Act, the company was renamed as Air India International Limited and the domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines as a part of restructuring. From 1948 to 1950, the airline introduced services to Nairobi in Africa and to major European destinations Rome, Paris, the airline took delivery of its first Lockheed Constellation L-1049 named Rani of Jhansi and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. On 21 February 1960, Air India International inducted its first Boeing 707–420 named Gauri Shankar, the airline inaugurated services to New York on 14 May 1960
29.
United Airlines
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United Continental Holdings, Inc. commonly referred to as United, is a major American airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is the worlds third-largest airline when measured by revenue, operates a domestic and international route network. In the late 1920s, just prior to the use of the United Airlines name, The Boeing Company, currently one of the worlds largest aircraft manufacturers, United was previously known as United Air Lines. United is a member of Star Alliance, the worlds largest global airline alliance. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express and its main competitors are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines. United operates out of nine airline hubs located in Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D. C. Chicago-OHare is Uniteds largest hub, both in terms of passengers carried annually and in terms of departures 181,488 in 2016) and this passed George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, which carried 15.5 million with 178,019 departures. The company employs over 86,000 people while maintaining its headquarters in Chicagos Willis Tower, through the airlines parent company, United Continental Holdings, it is publicly traded under NYSE, UAL with a market capitalization of over $18 billion as of September 2014. United operates maintenance bases in Cleveland and Orlando in addition to the maintenance locations located at Uniteds hubs, United Airlines traces its roots to the Varney Air Lines air mail service of Walter Varney, who also founded Varney Speed Lines from which Continental Airlines had originated. In 1927, aviation pioneer William Boeing founded his airline Boeing Air Transport to operate the San Francisco to Chicago air mail route, in 1933, United began operating the Boeing 247 airliner. It was able to fly a transcontinental flight in 20 hours, after passage of the Air Mail Act in 1934, UATC separated into United Aircraft, the Boeing Airplane Company and United Air Lines. In 1954 United Airlines became the first airline to purchase modern flight simulators which had visual, sound, purchased for US$3 million from Curtiss-Wright, these were the first of todays modern flight simulators for training of commercial passenger aircraft pilots. United merged with Capital Airlines in 1961 and regained its position as the United States largest airline, in 1968, the company reorganized, creating UAL Corporation, with United Airlines as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1970, the UAL Corporation acquired Western International Hotels, the 1970s also saw economic turmoil, resulting in stagflation and labor unrest. The 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, resulting in industry shakeups, further added to the difficulties in a loss-making period. In 1982, United became the first carrier to operate the Boeing 767, in May 1985, the airline underwent a 29-day pilot strike over managements proposed B-scale pilot pay rates. Making it one of two US carriers permitted exclusive access to Heathrow under Bermuda II until open skies took effect in 2008, the aftermath of the Gulf War and increased competition from low-cost carriers led to losses in 1991 and 1992. In 1995, United became the first airline to introduce the Boeing 777 in commercial service, in 1997, United co-founded the Star Alliance airline partnership
30.
M25 motorway
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The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a 117-mile motorway that encircles almost all of Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. An ambitious concept to build four concentric ring roads around London was first mooted in the 1960s, further widening is in progress of minor sections with plans for managed motorways in many others. To the east of London the two ends of the M25 are joined to complete a loop by the non-motorway A282 Dartford Crossing of the River Thames between Thurrock and Dartford and this crossing, which consists of twin two-lane tunnels and the four-lane QE2 bridge, is named Canterbury Way. Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a toll, in the opposite direction, to the east of the point where the M25 diverges from the main east–west carriageway, that carriageway become the M26 motorway. The radial distance from London varies from 12.5 miles in Potters Bar to 19.5 miles in Byfleet.8 miles, major towns listed as destinations, in various counties, adjoin the M25. North Ockendon is the settlement of Greater London situated outside the M25. In 2004, following a poll, the London Assembly mooted for consultation alignment of the Greater London boundary with the M25. Inside the M25 and outside/beyond the M25 are colloquial, looser alternatives to Greater London sometimes used in haulage, the Communications Act 2003 explicitly uses the M25 as the boundary in requiring a proportion of television programmes to be made outside the London area. Two motorway service areas are on the M25, and two others are accessible from it. Those on the M25 are Clacket Lane between junctions 5 and 6 and Cobham between junctions 9 and 10 and those directly accessible from it are South Mimms off junction 23 and Thurrock off junction 31. Cobham services opened on 13 September 2012, originally, the M25 was unlit except for sections around Heathrow, major interchanges and Junctions 23–30. By 2014 only one significant stretch was still SOX-lit and the units were removed the same year, the motorway passes through five counties. Junctions 1A–5 are in Kent, 6–14 are in Surrey, 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire, 17–25 are in Hertfordshire, policing of the road is carried out by an integrated policing group made up of the Metropolitan, Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. The M25 is one of Europes busiest motorways, in 2003, a maximum of 196,000 vehicles a day were recorded on the motorway just south of London Heathrow Airport between junctions 13 and 14. A precursor of the M25 was the North Orbital Road, the idea of an orbital road around London was first proposed early in the 20th century and then re-examined in Sir Charles Bresseys and Sir Edwin Lutyens The Highway Development Survey,1937. Sir Patrick Abercrombies County of London Plan,1943 and Greater London Plan,1944 proposed a series of five roads encircling the capital, the northern sections of the M25 follow a similar route to the World War II Outer London Defence Ring. Little was done to progress these plans until the 1960s when the Greater London Council developed its London Ringways plan consisting of four rings around the capital. Sections of the two outer rings – Ringway 3 and Ringway 4 – were constructed in the early 1970s and were integrated into the single M25 orbital motorway, but the Ringways plan was hugely controversial owing to the destruction required for the inner two ring roads
31.
A4 road (England)
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The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road, the road was once the main route from London to Bath and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London. The A4 has gone through many transformations through the ages from pre-Roman routes, Roman roads, during the Middle Ages, most byways and tracks served to connect villages with their nearest market town. A survey of Savernake Forest near Hungerford in 1228 mentions The King’s Street running between the town and Marlborough and this street corresponded roughly with the route of the modern A4. In 1632, Thomas Witherings was appointed Postmaster of Foreign Mails by Charles I, Three years later, the king charged him with building six Great Roads to aid in the delivery of the post, of which the Great West Road was one. It was not until the 17th century that a route between London and Bristol started to resemble todays road. During the 17th century, the A4 was known as the Great Road to Bristol, when Queen Anne started patronising the spa city of Bath, the road became more commonly known as Bath Road. Over the years, the direction of the road has taken many detours depending on such factors as changes in tolls or turnpike patronage, the first turnpike on this road was between Reading and Theale in 1714. Due to increasing traffic, sections of the road between Kensington, over Hounslow Hill, to Twyford were turnpike by 1717 with the remaining sections placed under turnpike trusts. This was not always the case with the Bath Road, as many of the landowners along the route co-operated informally. As a result, control of the Bath Road was easy to maintain, tollhouses were established at Colnbrook, Maidenhead, Twyford, Castle Street Reading, Thatcham and Benham. During the 1820s, the employment of good surveyors improved the condition of the road, the tolls raised from such clientele ensured that when the turnpike trusts handed over the route to local highway boards, they had no financial liabilities. Justices of the Peace were empowered by the 1862 Rural Highways Act to combine turnpike trusts into Highways Districts and this meant that by the late 1860s trusts were either not renewing their powers or were being terminated by General Acts of Parliament. For example, most turnpikes in Berkshire, including the Bath Road, were officially wound up by 1878 when legislation transferred responsibility for dis-enturnpiked roads to the new county councils. With the improvement being made to the systems, the business of moving mail became easier. In Bristol, an office had been well established by the 1670s. The journey time to London at this period was about 16, a letter from Bath in 1684 took about 3 days going via a postal office in Marshfield on the Bristol Road. Journey times during the Turnpike era fell with the improvements from 2 days in 1752 to 38 hours in 1782 and 18 hours by 1836, Royal Mail coaches in 1836 were able to do the trip in 12 to 13 hours
32.
A30 road
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The A30 is a major road in England, running south-west from London to Lands End. The road has one of the most important in Britain since the 17th century. It used to provide the most direct route from London to the South West, nowadays much of this function is performed by the M3 motorway, however, the section from Honiton to Lands End is a dual carriageway for most of its length and retains trunk road status. The A30 begins at Henlys Roundabout, a junction with the A4 near Hounslow and it runs along the south side of Heathrow Airport, then past Ashford and Staines-upon-Thames, before reaching the M25 motorway. This first section is entirely dual carriageway, after crossing the M25, the A30 runs parallel to the M3 all the way to Basingstoke, bypassing Egham and passing through Bagshot, Camberley, Hartley Wintney and Hook. Just west of Basingstoke, at junction 8 of the M3, the A30 runs parallel to this road all the way to just north-east of Honiton, passing through Stockbridge, Salisbury, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Yeovil, Crewkerne and Chard. Between the M25 and Honiton, the A30 is mostly single carriageway, however, there are short stretches of dual carriageway from Camberley to Basingstoke, which has a dualled inner ring road, two between Stockbridge and Salisbury, and between Sherborne and Yeovil. This section is a road as far as Penzance. It is mostly dual carriageway, but there are short sections of single carriageway. To pass Exeter, through traffic can join the M5 motorway for three miles, West of Exeter, the A30 is dual carriageway through Devon and into Cornwall, bypassing Whiddon Down, Okehampton and Launceston. The dual carriageway continues through Cornwall to Bodmin Moor, where there is a stretch of single carriageway. The dual carriageway resumes until Carland Cross, after there is a single carriageway stretch to Chiverton Cross. Highways England are currently progressing plans to dual this section of carriageway, from Chiverton Cross, the dual carriageway bypasses Redruth and Camborne. The A30 returns to single carriageway west of Camborne, and a bypass takes the road around Hayle. Between Hayle and Penzance, the A30 returns to the original route, approaching Penzance, the A30 briefly becomes a dual carriageway once again. Once west of Penzance, the A30 becomes a rural road running through or past several villages. A large section of the A30 follows the course of the historic London – Lands End coaching road, the road appeared on John Ogilbys map of Britain in 1675, and was covered by Ogilbys later strip-maps showing The Road from London to The Lands End in Cornwall. Beyond Exeter, the route went via Plymouth and then followed the Cornish south coast via St Austell down to Penzance, some distance away from the modern A30
33.
Parking lot
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A parking lot, also known as a car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to an area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most countries where cars are the dominant mode of transportation, parking lots are a feature of every city, shopping malls, sports stadiums, megachurches and similar venues often feature parking lots of immense area. Parking lots tend to be sources of pollution because of their extensive impervious surfaces. Most existing lots have limited or no facilities to control runoff, many areas today also require minimum landscaping in parking lots, which means that their paved surfaces contribute to heat islands. Many municipalities require a number of parking spaces, depending on the floor area in a store or the number of bedrooms in an apartment complex. In the United States, each states Department of Transportation sets the proper ratio for disabled spaces for private business, various forms of technology are used to charge motorists for the use of a parking lot. Modern parking lots use a variety of technologies to help motorists find unoccupied parking spaces, retrieve their vehicles, parking lots tend to be sources of water pollution because of their extensive impervious surfaces. Virtually all of the rain that falls becomes urban runoff, to avoid flooding and unsafe driving conditions, the lots are built to effectively channel and collect runoff. Parking lots, along roads, are often the principal source of water pollution in urban areas. Motor vehicles are a constant source of pollutants, the most significant being gasoline, motor oil, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, many parking lots are also significant sources of trash which ends up in waterways. Treatment of pollution, Traditionally, the runoff has been shunted directly into storm sewers, streams, however, most larger municipalities now require construction of stormwater management facilities for new lots. Typical facilities include retention basins, infiltration basins and percolation trenches, some newer designs include bioretention systems, which use plants more extensively to absorb and filter pollutants. However, most existing lots have limited or no facilities to control runoff, alternative paving materials, An alternative solution today is to use permeable paving surfaces, such as brick, pervious concrete, stone, special paving blocks, or tire-tread woven mats. These materials allow rain to soak into the ground through the spaces inherent in the parking lot surface. The ground then may become contaminated in the surface of the parking lot park, but this tends to stay in a area of ground. This can however create problems if contaminants seep into groundwater, especially there is groundwater abstraction downstream for potable water supply. Many areas today also require minimum landscaping in parking lots and this usually principally means the planting of trees to provide shade
34.
Piccadilly line
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The Piccadilly line /ˌpɪkəˈdɪli/ is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fourth busiest line on the Underground network on the basis of the number of passengers transported per year with 210,000,000. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with a number of surface sections and it is named after the road above it between Hyde Park Corner and Piccadilly Circus. Some of its stations are shared with the District line and some are shared with the Metropolitan line and it is the second longest line on the system, after the Central line, and has the second most stations, after the District line. The GN&SRs and B&PCRs separate routes were linked with a section between Piccadilly Circus and Holborn. A section of the District Railways scheme for a tube line between South Kensington and Earls Court was also added in order to complete the route. When the GNP&BR was formally opened on 15 December 1906, the line ran from the Great Northern Railways station at Finsbury Park to the District Railways station at Hammersmith. On 30 November 1907, the branch from Holborn to the Strand opened. In 1905, plans were made to extend it the distance south under the River Thames to Waterloo. Although built with twin tunnels, single track shuttle operation became the norm on the branch from 1918 on, on 1 July 1910 the GNP&BR and the other UERL-owned tube railways were merged by private Act of Parliament to become the London Electric Railway Company. On 10 December 1928, a rebuilt Piccadilly Circus station was opened, There had been deputations made to Parliament asking for an early extension of the line either towards Tottenham and Edmonton or towards Wood Green and Palmers Green. The early 1930s was a time of recession, and in order to relieve unemployment, government capital was made available, the chief features of the scheme were an extension northwards from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. However, a Ventilation station, in architectural style to tube stations of the time was provided at the site. There was also opposition from the London and North Eastern Railway to the line. The extension began from Finsbury Park to a point a little south of Arnos Grove, a Parliamentary report of 1919 recommended through running to Richmond and Ealing. By the end of the 1920s the priority had shifted to serving the areas around Hounslow and north, construction of the linking sections started in 1930, and the services opened as follows. To Uxbridge, the District Railway had operated services to Uxbridge since 1910 and this influence can be seen in the bold vertical and horizontal forms, which were combined with the use of traditional materials like brick. Many of these Holden-designed station are listed buildings and this idea was eventually rejected due to the inconvenience to passengers that would have been caused during rebuilding, as well as the costs of the new tunnels
35.
London Underground
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The London Underground is a public rapid transit system serving London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2015–16 carried 1.34 billion passengers, the 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track, despite its name, only 45% of the system is actually underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, the current operator, London Underground Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in Greater London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares, the Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the LPTB was a prominent patron of art and design, commissioning many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style. Other famous London Underground branding includes the roundel and Johnston typeface, to prepare construction, a short test tunnel was built in 1855 in Kibblesworth, a small town with geological properties similar to London. This test tunnel was used for two years in the development of the first underground train, and was later, in 1861, the worlds first underground railway, it opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. It was hailed as a success, carrying 38,000 passengers on the opening day, the Metropolitan District Railway opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for an underground inner circle connecting Londons main-line termini. The Metropolitan and District railways completed the Circle line in 1884, built using the cut and this opened in 1890 with electric locomotives that hauled carriages with small opaque windows, nicknamed padded cells. The Waterloo and City Railway opened in 1898, followed by the Central London Railway in 1900, the Metropolitan Railway protested about the change of plan, but after arbitration by the Board of Trade, the DC system was adopted. When the Bakerloo was so named in July 1906, The Railway Magazine called it an undignified gutter title, by 1907 the District and Metropolitan Railways had electrified the underground sections of their lines. In January 1913, the UERL acquired the Central London Railway, the Bakerloo line was extended north to Queens Park to join a new electric line from Euston to Watford, but World War I delayed construction and trains reached Watford Junction in 1917. During air raids in 1915 people used the stations as shelters. An extension of the Central line west to Ealing was also delayed by the war, the Metropolitan promoted housing estates near the railway with the Metro-land brand and nine housing estates were built near stations on the line. Electrification was extended north from Harrow to Rickmansworth, and branches opened from Rickmansworth to Watford in 1925, the Piccadilly line was extended north to Cockfosters and took over District line branches to Harrow and Hounslow. In 1933, most of Londons underground railways, tramway and bus services were merged to form the London Passenger Transport Board, the Waterloo & City Railway, which was by then in the ownership of the main line Southern Railway, remained with its existing owners. In the same year that the London Passenger Transport Board was formed, in the following years, the outlying lines of the former Metropolitan Railway closed, the Brill Tramway in 1935, and the line from Quainton Road to Verney Junction in 1936
36.
Heathrow Express
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Heathrow Express is an airport rail link between London Heathrow Airport and Paddington. It opened in 1998 and is operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Company and it is an open access operator and not subject to franchising. Heathrow Express was planned as a joint venture between BAA and British Rail, but was taken over fully by the following the railways being privatised. The principal works were two 5-mile single-bore tunnels and underground stations at Heathrow Central and Terminal 4, electrification of the Great Western Main Line between Paddington and Airport Junction, where the new line diverged from the GWML, was also required. A flying junction known as Stockley Flyover was constructed to connect the tunnel to the GWML fast lines, beginning in January 1998, an interim service called Heathrow FastTrain ran to a temporary station called Heathrow Junction, where a coach took passengers the rest of the way. The full service began on 23 June 1998, with four trains per hour running in each direction, in 2005, a service called Heathrow Connect was started, operating a twice-hourly stopping service along the route using Class 360 Desiro EMUs. In 2008, Heathrow Express was diverted to serve the new Terminal 5 in lieu of Terminal 4, the company employs 435 staff, 90% of whom work on trains or stations, and 72 of whom are train drivers. Heathrow Airport Holdings have an agreement with Network Rail until 2023 for access paths on the GWML, trains depart Paddington every 15 minutes from 05.10 until 23.25, and there is a similar quarter-hourly service in the return direction. At Paddington they use dedicated platforms 6 and 7, although on other platforms are used. There are two stops at Heathrow, Heathrow Central, serving Terminals 1,2 and 3, until the opening of Terminal 5 on 27 March 2008, Heathrow Express terminated at Heathrow Terminal 4, this is now served by the Heathrow Express shuttle from Heathrow Central. The service uses Class 332 electric multiple units built by CAF/Siemens and these incorporate video monitors and the ability to use mobile phones throughout the journey, even in tunnels. The monitors are used for advertising and for news and weather updates produced by BBC World News. Heathrow Express has been well received, not least because steps were taken to reduce the environmental impact. As of Summer 2013, all units have undergone a complete refurbishment inside and out including new seating configurations, luggage storage, Express Saver and Business First tickets are valid within 3 months of date of travel and return journey valid within 1 month of outbound journey. Standard class travel between Heathrow stations is free, there is also a stopping service, Heathrow Connect, which takes the same route but using the slower relief lines, on which significantly lower fares are charged. This takes approximately 15 minutes longer than Heathrow Express, but offers connections to the London Underground Central, Airport workers can get a discount through the Airport Commuter scheme operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings. Performance for the first quarter of the 2013 financial year was 94. 0% PPM, the service runs along Network Rails Great Western Main Line from Paddington to Airport Junction. The line from Airport Junction to the terminals is owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings
37.
Heathrow Central railway station
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Heathrow Central railway station serves Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at London Heathrow Airport. The station was known as Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3. It is served by Heathrow Express trains direct to central London and it is 14 miles 50 chains down-line from London Paddington. Transport for London Travelcards are not valid on services from the station, passengers transferring between any of the terminals at Heathrow may use the trains free of charge. London Buses routes 105,111,140,285, A10, U3, express routes 724 and X26, Heathrow Terminals 2 &3 Heathrow Terminal 4 Heathrow Terminal 5 Train times and station information for Heathrow Central railway station from National Rail Transport for London. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08, - transport map for Heathrow showing Underground, Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect rail, and the N9 night bus
38.
Heathrow Terminal 5 station
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Heathrow Terminal 5 is a shared railway and London Underground station serving London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. The station serves as a terminus for the Heathrow Express services to Paddington in central London, the station is staffed entirely by Heathrow Express staff, unlike the other underground stations serving Terminal 4 and Terminals 2 &3. The London Underground section of the station is situated in Travelcard Zone 6, the station was opened on 27 March 2008. It was designed by architects HOK International in conjunction with Rogers, Stirk, although situated underground, parts of the stations roofing are made of translucent ETFE laminate panels, allowing natural daylight to flood down both ends of all six platforms. The Terminal 5 station is served by the rail services, Piccadilly line, half the trains on the Heathrow branch terminate here, via Hatton Cross. The other half do not serve Heathrow Terminal 5, running instead via the loop to service Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminals 2 &3, Heathrow Express to/from Paddington Station terminate here. Until 2012, free transfer was not possible between terminals via the Underground, unlike on the Heathrow Express, in January 2012, free travel was introduced for Oyster card holders between the Heathrow stations on the Piccadilly line. Journeys from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Terminal 4 via the Piccadilly line require a change at Hatton Cross, in addition to the above rail links, the T5 Rail Station also has two safeguarded heavy rail platforms for use by a west-facing connection to the National Rail network. The south-leaning proposal would spur off the WSW line from London west of Staines railway station and it proposes direct rail services to London Waterloo, Reading, Woking, Guildford and London Gatwick Airport. Due to the cost of replacing three level crossings, one in an urban part of Egham, the proposals are currently unfunded. London Buses Routes 350,423,482,490 and Night Route N9 serve the station
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London Paddington station
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Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of the Great Western Railway, much of the main-line station dates from 1854 and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was first served by London Underground trains in 1863, as the western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway. Today, Paddington tube station is served by the Bakerloo, Circle, District and it is also the terminus for the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect services to and from London Heathrow Airport. It is one of 19 stations in the United Kingdom managed directly by Network Rail and it is situated in fare zone 1. The station complex is bounded at the front by Praed Street and at the rear by Bishops Bridge Road, on the west side of the station is Eastbourne Terrace, while the east side is bounded by the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The station is in a cutting, a fact obscured at the front by a hotel building. The surrounding area is residential, and includes the major St Marys Hospital, restaurants. Until recently there was little office accommodation in the area, however, recent redevelopment of derelict railway and canal land, marketed as Paddington Waterside, has resulted in new office complexes nearby. In addition to the Underground stations at Paddington, Lancaster Gate tube station on the Central line is a walk away to the south. A little further to the south lie the conjoined parks of Hyde Park, the National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name commonly used outside London but rarely by Londoners, who call it just Paddington, as on the London Underground map. Parts of the station, including the train shed, date from 1854. It is one of 19 stations managed by Network Rail, the first station was a temporary terminus for the GWR on the west side of Bishops Bridge Road, opened on 4 June 1838. The first GWR service from London to Taplow, near Maidenhead, after the main station opened in 1854, this became the site of the goods depot. It opened on 29 May 1854, the glazed roof is supported by wrought iron arches in three spans, respectively spanning 68 feet,102 feet and 70 feet. The roof is 699 feet long, and the original roof spans had two transepts connecting the three spans and it is commonly believed that these were provided by Brunel to accommodate traversers to carry coaches between the tracks within the station. However recent research, using documents and photographs, does not seem to support this belief. The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station in 1851–1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, the station was substantially enlarged in 1906–1915 and a fourth span of 109 feet was added on the north side, parallel to the others
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Heathrow Connect
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Heathrow Connect is a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington. It runs every half-hour throughout the day and evening, the service launched on 12 June 2005 and will be replaced by Crossrail in December 2019. Heathrow Connect has a complex operating structure, the rolling stock and on-board staff are supplied by Heathrow Airport Holdings through the Heathrow Express company. For the portion of the journey between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington, these are leased to GWR and the service is classed as being operated by the latter, between Hayes & Harlington and Airport Junction, it runs using open-access rights obtained by Heathrow Express. Beyond Airport Junction the track is owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings, because the service is provided as a joint venture between GWR and Heathrow Express and is not subject to the usual franchising specifications, it is not obliged to provide performance statistics. Fares between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington are the same as for GWR services, but the fare between Hayes and Heathrow is £6.20 as of October 2016. Oyster cards, Travelcards and Freedom Passes are not valid between Hayes and Harlington and Heathrow, but can be used throughout the rest of the route. When the service was first introduced in 2005, the fare for the 3-mile journey from Hayes to Heathrow was £6, the service was designed principally for the use of airport staff and West London residents for travel to Heathrow or Paddington. With a staff ID card, discounted fares are available for the journey between Hayes and Heathrow, passengers can also use their Railcards to access discounts. Standard-class travel between Terminals 2,3,4 or 5 is free, the service uses the Relief Lines of the Great Western Main Line between Airport Junction and Paddington, replacing some stopping services operated by the former First Great Western Link. These lines were electrified as part of the original Heathrow Express project as a diversionary route, the lines are electrified at 25 kV AC overhead and feature Automatic Train Protection. To access the airport spur without crossing the Main Lines, trains in both use the flyover track originally built for Heathrow Express trains heading towards Paddington. This arrangement means Heathrow Connect trains to the use the flyover in the opposite direction to normal operation. As part of Crossrail works, a new flyover is being rebuilt to overcome these limitations, the new flyover will allow Heathrow Connect trains returning from the airport, to reach the up track, without crossing the down track. At present, Heathrow Connect trains traveling towards the airport, may have to wait at Hayes & Harlington for either Heathrow Express or Connect trains to use the flyover returning from the airport. In early mornings and late evenings, some Heathrow Connect services are extended beyond Heathrow Central to either Terminal 4 or Terminal 5, there is also one late-evening London-bound service on Mondays-Thursdays that stops at Acton Main Line. On Sundays, all Heathrow Connect services are extended to Terminal 4, service frequency is also reduced from half-hourly to hourly. Heathrow Connect will be absorbed into the Crossrail service in May 2018, Crossrail will extend current train paths through a central London tunnel as services to Shenfield and Abbey Wood
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Cockfosters tube station
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Cockfosters is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly line for which it is the northern terminus. The station is in Travelcard Zone 5 and the next station south-east is Oakwood, the station opened on 31 July 1933, the last of the stations on the extension of the line from Finsbury Park to do so and four months after Oakwood station opened. Prior to its opening, Trent Park and Cock Fosters were suggested as alternative station names, the original site hoarding displayed the name as a single word. The station was designed by Charles Holden in a modern European style using brick, glass, holdens early design sketches show the station with two towers. The trainshed roof constructed at Uxbridge in 1937-38 was built to a similar design, Cockfosters station is a Grade II listed building. The station has three tracks with platforms number 1 to 4, the track being served from both sides by platforms 2 and 3. This is an example of the so-called Spanish solution, most eastbound Piccadilly trains terminate here although some terminate at Arnos Grove or Oakwood, particularly in peak hours or in the evenings. Some trains may terminate at Wood Green, however, this is only used very early in the morning or in emergency situations. Cockfosters depot is located between Oakwood and Cockfosters and trains can access or leave it from either direction, Trent Park The London LOOP walk uses the stations foot tunnel to cross Cockfosters Road. Cockfosters tube station features prominently in the novel While England Sleeps by American author David Leavitt, one of the novels protagonists is writing a book entitled The Train to Cockfosters. London Buses routes 299,384 and 298 and night route N91 serve the station
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Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station
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Heathrow Terminals 2 &3 is a London Underground station at Heathrow Airport on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, and currently serves Heathrow Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The station was named Heathrow Terminals 1,2 &3 until January 2016, the station is situated in Travelcard Zone 6. The station opened as Heathrow Central on 16 December 1977 as the phase of the Piccadilly lines extension from Hounslow West to the airport. The preceding station, Hatton Cross, had opened as the terminus in 1975. At its opening, the served as the terminus of what became known as the Heathrow branch of the line — previously it had been the Hounslow branch. It was the first time that an airport had been served by an underground railway system. The Terminal 4 station is located on a single track loop from Hatton Cross to Heathrow Terminals 2 &3. On the opening of the Terminal 4 station most direct services from Hatton Cross ceased, some early morning trains still went directly to Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 to the confusion of some passengers, the last westbound train every day still does this. This situation continued until 17 September 2006, when the Terminal 5 tunnel works were complete for the loop tunnel. Alternate trains run either to Terminal 4, or direct to Terminals 2 &3, Heathrow Terminals 2 &3 has a double crossover directly to the east which can be seen from the platform. The station has six escalators of which two operate from the platform to the hall area and two operate in the opposite direction, the other two connect the ticket hall area to the surface. A mezzanine floor between the platform and ticket hall levels provide staff accommodation and facilities, trains may serve platform 1 from either direction but platform 2 may only be served by eastbound trains. British Transport Police maintain a presence at Heathrow, until 2012, free transfer was not possible between terminals, in contrast to the Heathrow Express. In January 2012, free travel was introduced for Oyster card holders between the Heathrow stations on the Piccadilly line, journeys from Heathrow Terminals 2 &3 to Terminal 4 via the Piccadilly line require a change at Hatton Cross. Step Free Access to street level will continue to be served by the two airport lifts from the Coach station, the station is served by London Buses routes 105,111,140,285, A10, U3, the express route X26, and the Night Route N9. Non-TfL routes 75,76,441,555,740, A30, A40, Heathrow Central railway station Photographic Archive. Archived from the original on 2008-03-18, official opening of the station by Her Majesty the Queen,1977 External view of station,1979 Detail of platform decoration and seating,1980 Transport for London. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08, - transport map for Heathrow showing Underground, Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect rail, and the N9 night bus
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Oyster card
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The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticket used on public transport in Greater London in the United Kingdom. A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored-value contactless smartcard that can hold single tickets, period tickets and travel permits, passengers touch it on an electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it or deduct funds. Cards may be topped-up by recurring payment authority, by purchase, at credit card terminals or by cash. The card is designed to reduce the number of transactions at ticket offices, usage is encouraged by offering substantially cheaper fares than with cash though the acceptance of cash is being phased out. On London buses, cash is no longer accepted, the card was first issued to the public in July 2003 with a limited range of features and there continues to be a phased introduction of further functions. By June 2012, over 43 million Oyster cards had been issued, as part of TfLs Future Ticketing Programme the Oyster card platform is due to be replaced or supplemented by contactless payment card systems such as contactless credit and debit cards. The first stage of this was completed in June 2015, the £100 million contract was signed in 1998 for a term of 17 years until 2015 at a total cost of £1.1 billion. In August 2008, TfL decided to exercise an option in the contract to terminate it in 2010. This followed a number of technical failures, TfL stated that the contractual break was to reduce costs, not connected to the system failures. In November 2008 a new contract was announced between TfL and Cubic and EDS for two of the original shareholders to run the system from 2010 until 2013. The Oyster name was agreed on after a period of research managed by TranSys. Two other names were considered and Oyster was chosen as an approach that was not directly linked to transport. Other proposed names were Pulse and Gem, the intellectual property rights to the Oyster brand originally belonged to TranSys. The Oyster card has a claimed proximity range of about 80 mm, the card operates as a RFID system and is compatible with ISO/IEC14443 types A and B. Oyster readers can read other types of cards including Cubic Transportation Systems Go cards. From its inception until January 2010, Oyster cards were based on NXP/Philips MIFARE Classic 1k chips provided by Giesecke & Devrient, Gemalto, all new Oyster cards have used MIFARE DESFire EV1 chips since December 2009. From February 2010, MIFARE Classic-based Oyster cards were no longer issued, MIFARE DESFire cards are now widely used as transport smartcards. MIFARE Classic chips, on which the original Oyster card was based, are hard-wired logic smartcards, the MIFARE DESFire chips used on the new Oyster card are CPUs with much more sophisticated security features and more complex computation power
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Heathrow Terminal 1
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Heathrow Terminal 1 is a now defunct airport terminal at London Heathrow Airport. Prior to its closure on 29 June 2015, it was occupied by Oneworld member British Airways which operated just 20 daily flights to 9 destinations as the last remaining tenant. Its proposed demolition will enable construction of the phase of Terminal 2. Terminal 1 was opened in 1968 and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in April 1969. At the time Terminal 1 was the biggest short-haul terminal of its kind in Western Europe, a new pier was added in the 1990s which increased the capacity of the terminal, catering for widebody 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, since the buyout of British Midland International, British Airways served some short- and medium-haul destinations from this terminal. Virgin Atlantic operated its short lived Little 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 Terminal 2s expansion. Ahead of its closure, all remaining flights were moved to other terminals, several airlines had already left Terminal 1 ahead of this date during 2014 and 2015. The last tenants alongside British Airways were Icelandair, El Al and TAM Airlines, the final flight to ever depart Terminal 1 was British Airways BA0970 to Hannover, Germany, which departed at 21,30 on 29 June 2015. Due to its closure, there were just seven shops left airside in the terminal by June 2015, Boots, Cocoon, Dixons Travel, Glorious Britain, WH Smith. There was a link to Terminal 2 allowing passengers to use the facilities in that terminal. The Star Alliance lounge, the El Al King David Lounge, 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, in early 2017 it was announced that the global auction firm CA Global Partners would host a series of auctions and private treaty sales involving all of the remaining contents of the terminal. As part of the three terminals at Heathrow, it was well linked to the M4 motorway via the M4 spur road. Terminal 1 was accessed by the London Underground from Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 tube station, the Terminal was also accessed by Heathrow Connect and Express from Heathrow Central where services go to London Paddington. Terminal 1 was accessible to both bus and coach services from Heathrow central bus station, there were also several coach services operated by National Express. Media related to Heathrow Terminal 1 at Wikimedia Commons Heathrow Airport website
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Expansion of Heathrow Airport
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The expansion of Heathrow Airport has involved several proposals by Heathrow Airport Holdings and an independent proposal by Heathrow Hub, to increase capacity at Heathrow Airport. In December 2006 the Department for Transport published a report on the strategy which confirmed the original vision of expanding the runways. In November 2007 the government started a consultation on its proposal for a slightly shorter third runway. The plan was supported by businesses, the industry, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress. It was opposed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties as opposition parties, Boris Johnson, the past Mayor of London, as well as many environmental and local advocacy groups and prominent individuals also opposed the project. While the expansion was cancelled on 12 May 2010 by the new coalition government. On 25 October 2016 a new northwest runway and terminal was approved by the Government and it was opposed by Zac Goldsmith, who resigned as Conservative MP for Richmond Park in protest, and stood in the resulting by-election as an anti-Heathrow expansion candidate. Goldsmith failed to win re-election at the by-election, in January 2009, the then Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that the UK government supported the expansion of Heathrow by building a third runway and sixth terminal building. The government would not undertake construction, but encourage the airport operator to apply for planning permission, the government anticipated that the new runway would be operational in 2015 or soon after. In 2009 the government declared that they did not intend that the runway should be used at full capacity when it is first opened. Initially the extra flights should be limited to 125,000 a year until 2020, plans for a high-speed rail connection direct to Heathrow were however dropped during 2010. On 12 May 2010, the expansion was cancelled by the new coalition government, BAA formally dropped its plans on 24 May 2010. On 1 July 2015, the Airport Commission recommended the third runway and sixth terminal, in July 2013, the airport submitted three new proposals for expansion to the Airports Commission, which was established to review airport capacity in the southeast of England. Each involved the construction of a runway, either to the north. The full report was published on 1 June 2015, finally confirming the Northwest runway, the commission estimated the cost to be around £18.6 billion, £4 billion higher than Heathrows own estimate. The northwest runway and terminal plan was approved by Government on 25 October 2016, the principal argument stated in favour of expanding Heathrow is to enhance the economic growth of the UK. As the UKs major hub airport, Heathrow is able to attract many transfer passengers and it is the worlds second busiest airport based on number of international passengers. Should Heathrows connectivity decline compared to Londons European competitors, the UK would fall behind, the governments argument is that Heathrow is on the brink of suffering a decline in connectivity
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Heathrow Junction railway station
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Heathrow Junction was a short-lived railway station built to serve London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom. Between 1988 and 1998, the Heathrow Express shuttle service was built to connect Paddington station to Heathrow Airport, a new spur was built from the existing Great Western Main Line to the airport, running mostly in tunnel. To save costs, the tunnel was built using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method, unfortunately, the construction was not a success, and in 1994 parts of the not-yet-opened tunnels near the airport collapsed. The collapse not only delayed the finishing of the tunnel beneath the airport. With no rail service, a decision was made to open a temporary station at the edge of the airport whilst construction continued. The line to the new station followed the route of a canal known as Broads Dock. Heathrow Junction station was situated in Stockley Park, slightly to the north of the airport, class 332 trains carried passengers from Paddington to Heathrow Junction, and a fleet of shuttle buses carried the passengers the remaining distance to the airport. On 23 June 1998 Heathrow Express service commenced to Heathrow Terminals 1,2 and 3 railway station, trains no longer called at Heathrow Junction, and within ten days the track leading to the station had been dismantled
Media related to Heathrow Terminal 4 at Wikimedia Commons