To the south lie Feltham, Bedfont, and Stanwell while to the west Heathrow is separated from Slough, Horton and Windsor in Berkshire by the M25 motorway.

This hamlet was largely along a country lane (Heathrow Road), which ran roughly along the east and south edges of the present central terminals area.

By the time some of the airfield's runways were usable, World War II had ended, and the UK Government continued to develop the site as a civil airport.

[14] The airport has its resident press corps, consisting of six photographers and one TV crew, serving all the major newspapers and television stations around the world.

Considerable use is made of continuous descent approach techniques to minimise the environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night.

[18] In this mode, aircraft take off towards the west and land from the east over London, thereby minimising the impact of noise on the most densely populated areas.

The zones used alternated weekly, meaning residents in the "no-fly" areas received respite from aircraft noise for set periods.

[21] In 2017, Heathrow introduced "Fly Quiet & Green", a quarterly published league table (suspended in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic) that awards points to the 50 busiest airlines at the airport, ostensibly based on their performance relative to each other across a range of seven environmental benchmarks, such as NOx emissions.

[30][31][32] However, the Court of Appeal rejected this plan, on the basis that the government failed to consider climate change and the environmental impact of aviation.

[33] On 16 December 2020, the UK Supreme Court lifted the ban on the third runway expansion, allowing the construction plan to go ahead.

[34] Until it was required to sell Gatwick and Stansted Airports, Heathrow Airport Holdings, owned mostly by FGP and Qatar Investment Authority and CDPQ[7] held a dominant position in the London aviation market and has been heavily regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as to how much it can charge airlines to land.

[37] Until 2008, air traffic between Heathrow and the United States was strictly governed by the countries' bilateral Bermuda II treaty.

Following Brexit, the US and UK signed a new US-UK Air Transport Agreement in November 2020 incorporating the essential elements of Open Skies, which came into effect in March 2021.

[42] With only two runways operating at over 98% of their capacity, Heathrow has little room for more flights, although the use of larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 has allowed some increase in passenger numbers.

[52][53] Designed by Spanish architect Luis Vidal, it was built on the site that had been occupied by the original Terminal 2 and the Queens Building.

An extended check-in area with renovated piers and departure lounges and a new baggage system were installed, and four new stands were built to accommodate the Airbus A380; Qatar Airways operates regular A380 flights.

During the two weeks after its opening, operations were disrupted by problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with insufficient testing and staff training, which caused over 500 flights to be cancelled.

However, because of the merger, between 25 March 2012 and 12 July 2022, Iberia's operations at Heathrow were moved to the terminal, making it the home of International Airlines Group.

Following British Airways' merger with Iberia, this may become a priority since the combined business will require accommodation at Heathrow under one roof to maximise the cost savings envisaged under the deal.

A more distant long-stay car park for business passengers is connected to the terminal by a personal rapid transit system, the Heathrow Pod, which became operational in the spring of 2011.

[71] An automated people mover (APM) system, known as the Transit, transports airside passengers between the main terminal building and the satellite concourses.

More than four million passengers travelled on domestic and international flights in and out of Heathrow in March 2023, meaning it was once again the busiest airport in Europe after falling to the second spot in November 2022.

The system, which relies heavily on the efficiency of coordination, is capable of tracking aircraft across a wide airspace with the combination of radar and video data collected from the ground.

[303] This was a controversial decision which met with widespread opposition because of the expected greenhouse gas emissions, impact on local communities, as well as noise and air pollution concerns.

[304] Before the 2010 general election, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties announced that they would prevent the construction of any third runway or further material expansion of the airport's operating capacity.

He, at the time of his appointment, was in the employ of GIC Private Limited (formerly known as Government Investment Corporation of Singapore) and a member of its International Advisory Board.

Each of the three proposals that were to be considered by Sir Howard Davies's commission involved the construction of a third runway, either to the north, northwest or southwest of the airport.

One senior Conservative told Channel 4: "Howard Davies has dumped an utter steaming pile of poo on the Prime Minister's desk.

[317] In February 2020, the Court of Appeal ruled that the plans for a third runway were illegal since they did not adequately take into account the government's commitments to the Paris climate agreement.

[319] The plan stalled after a fall in passenger numbers during the COVID pandemic and concerns about investment costs,[320] but came back into the spotlight after the Labour Party won the 2024 UK general election.