The closure of Terminal 1 to enable Heathrow to expand comes at an auspicious time.
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At the time of its opening in 1968, Terminal 1 at Heathrow was the largest airport terminal in Europe.
Heathrow Airport will close the doors on 47 years of aviation history tonight when Terminal 1 handles its final flight.
The final departure will be a British Airways flight to Hanover, leaving on Monday evening.
“We believe moving Egyptian flights to Terminal 5 is a positive step that will offer customers an enhanced travel experience with access to our new lounges and shopping outlets”, said Mervat Alfy, commercial manager for British Airways in North Africa.
The move is part of Heathrows £11 billion investment that has included Terminal 5 A, B and C, a new control tower, a refurbishment of Terminals 3 and 4, and past year the new Terminal 2A and B.
If the airport gets the government’s approval for the construction of a third runway, Terminal 2 will be extended further.
Captain Paul Imhoff, the pilot in charge of BA970 to Hanover, said: “I was inspired to become a pilot by family trips down to Heathrow Terminal 1, so it is a really nice honour and symmetry that I can lead the team on the last ever flight to depart from the terminal”.
Terminal 1 was renowned for being the biggest short-haul terminal of its kind in Western Europe and handled approximately 9 million passengers at full capacity.
In recent weeks, flights have been transferred to Terminal 2 and passengers numbers have fallen to just 1,700 and 17 flights a day.
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“The closure of Terminal 1 marks another important milestone in the transformation of Heathrow. T1 served Britain well for almost 50 years”.
