Okay, so you’ve finally decided on making that holiday in Britain. So where exactly does the fun begin? Well, I’m a firm believer in that a great holiday begins with a great landing. And airport facilities in the UK compare with and even better some of the best in the world.
London Heathrow airport is the world’s third busiest airport – with 68,000 people working at the airport — although in terms of international passengers, it’s the busiest. With the new terminal 5 due to be completed early this year, Heathrow will get even more capacity for future growth. You’ll easily find more than 90 airlines which fly to 170 destinations worldwide at Heathrow. Approximately 67 million passengers transit through Heathrow annually, and the majority of them — 3.4 million — flew between Heathrow and New York.
A survey conducted by the American Society of Travel Agents voted Heathrow Airport as the best in the world for its family friendliness. The survey covered areas such as baby-changing facilities, space available and play areas for children. Also to the airport’s credit is the an innovative driverless public transport system, said to be the first in the world.
Situated just 30 miles south of London, London Gatwick Airport is the second busiest airport in the UK, with its North and a South terminals dealing with different airlines and destinations. A monorail also links the two terminals. It boasts about 200 worldwide destinations with over 34 million passengers in 2006. It has an extensive car parking and state-of-the-art facilities.
Stansted Airport is the UK’s third largest airport for international scheduled passengers and is one of the fastest growing airports in the world, serving over 23 million passengers a year. Started as a US Army Air Force base in 1942, it has one of the longest runways in the UK today. Stansted is only 35 miles from London, and is a convenient airport for tourists flying to European destinations – with over 35 countries and 160 destinations served from this location.
Manchester Airport, the fourth busiest airport in the UK, and ranked 48th in the world in 2005. The airport is home to more than 95 airlines and 300 tour operators serving over 180 destinations worldwide. It is expected to become the UK’s second busiest airport in about ten years with its two parallel runways each 3,048 meters in length.
Once out of the airport, your immediate need would of course be accommodation, and the cities offer a wide range of hotel facilities to suit both tourists and business people. Whether you’re catching that last minute flight or you’ve been planning your holiday for months, you can depend upon hotel accommodation being available at discounted rates.
