| 1930s | A testing area when it first started, the present Heathrow Airport was originally called Great Western Aerodrome and was privately owned by Fairey Aviation. It began as a place for test flying with commercial flights.
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| 1944 | Heathrow came under the control of the Ministry of Air. It was opened under a deceptive order to make it a base for long-range transport aircraft in the war against Japan. In fact, Heathrow was never used by the Royal Air Force at all.
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| 1946 | Control of the airport was transferred to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Later that year the first civil flight from the airport was a refuelling stop of a plane headed for Buenos Aires from Lisbon.
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| 1947 | The airport had three runways with three more being constructed.
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| 1950s | A permanent terminal replaced the tent which had been used as a terminal previously.
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| 1953 | The first concrete slab for a modern style of runway was ceremonially placed by Queen Elizabeth II.
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| 1955 | Queen Elizabeth II opened the Europa Building, which was the first terminal of the airport. It later became Terminal 2. Also opened that same day was the tunnel linking the main road access to Heathrow’s central area.
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| 1961 | Oceanic Terminal (Terminal 3) was opened.
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| 1968 | The new Terminal 1 Building was opened.
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| 1977 | Connection to London by the Underground extended to Heathrow Airport. It was a one hour trip on the Piccadilly Line.
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| 1986 | Terminal 4 opened which became the home of British Airways.
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| 1987 | British Airports Authority (BAA plc) was privatised by the British government. This included seven airports, Heathrow included.
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| 2000-2001 | Heathrow Airport handled 64 million passengers, making it the world’s busiest airport.
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| 2005 | A fifth terminal and a third runway were built.
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