I often see videos filmed from Queen's building in the 80's/90's of terminal 2 at LHR. I'm intrigued to know how many gates there were? and what was the layout and did it connect to Terminal 1? Also did airlines have dedicated gates or was it first come first served. Would love any info/pics videos of the interior or aerial layout. Any other trivia welcome such as when did VIASA leave? When did Canadian Airlines move to T4? I think I spotted an Iberia 742 -was that a one-off? Thanks in advance

I don't believe there was an airside connection between (old) T1 and (old T2) but there was a windy corridor that went landside between the two terminals and passed through the middle of the Queens Building (located between T1 and T2). The spotters viewing area was accessed through the top of the Queens Building and then stretched onto the roof of T2.

What became known as Terminal 2 was opened as the Europa Building in 1955 and was the first terminal within the centre plan . At the time long haul (what there was) used a shambles of buildings to north of the Bath Road whilst this was replaced with another terminal on the centre plan to be called Oceanic Terminal and later Terminal 3 . Terminal 1 was to come on line in 1969 and for much of the next decade and half these were the core of operations.

And all operated as independent buildings for that time

When the Europier extension was built out it was connected airside to both T1 and T2.

Originally what would become Terminal 2 had a large apron and simple ramps to the airside while two short piers were added . They had I think 15 direct stands on them with bridges though that number would reduce as a few end bridges were modified to take wide body aircraft,

UK airports have operated largely on common use so no dedicated gates in the main.

This YouTube video is worth a watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReW2H43spJI

Viasa must have stopped around 1997 when they went bust after Iberia pulled the plug on their South American holdings. Canadian didn't actually serve Heathrow for very long before folding into Air Canada although as CP-Air they flew charter flights into Gatwick/Birmingham/Manchester and Prestwick from the late 60 to around 1990.

From time to time many of the European major carriers Lufthansa, Air France, Alitalia, Olympic, Aer Lingus and indeed Iberia would substitute 747s throughout the seventies and eighties and later.

From the early 70s Iberia normally operated a DC10 and occasionally the 747 on their evening flight for heavy cargo and South American connections indeed they continue to use a wide body on this rotation today.

There are mountain of reference articles , books , videos and images on the subject out there . You will probably find more than you can absorb from a simple search.

BTW the Terminal 2 restaurant on the first floor did the best cooked breakfast, coffee with panoramic views over runway 28L in the eighties happy times

I spent many a day on the Queen's Building in the 80s and 90s. Pretty sure there were no dedicated gates (not really a thing in the UK/Europe for the most part anyway). There weren't a huge number of gates, maybe 15-18. There's some good aerial views in the historical imagery on Google Earth.

Canadian moved across from LGW at some point after they changed the rules and let new airlines in, sometime in 1991. Not sure when they then moved to T4. I think VIASA were still operating to LHR when they ceased operations in 1997, or at least close to it.

Iberia 742s were occasional visitors, not regular, but A300s and DC-10s were common. I also remember seeing Air France and Olympic 742s on occasions. In the 1980s, on Saturdays in particular there would be multiple Ilyushins and Tupolevs from the Eastern Bloc countries, those were the days!

Inside I remember it as a really dingy place with low ceilings, landside at least

Flew through once, in 2007, I definitely took interior photos but don't know where they are, will try and have a look. Wish interior airport terminal photos were a category here!

I loved the old T2 in the 80's/90's and flew through it on a regular basis when flying OA. No dedicated gates as mentioned but when OA used the B742 which I flew a good few times they used the bridge / gate closest to the T2 car park . They used the B742 at Christmas / Easter and election times .

I remember the ticket desks they were green plastic structures. JAT / TAP / Olympic were on departures level and different colours for Lufthansa / Alitalia were on check in ground floor . Air France and IIRC Iberia had a little annex section to the right on the check in floor also.

I spent many hours on the viewing terrace and they also had a Aviation shop . Really were good days.

Drofereh wrote:

I often see videos filmed from Queen's building in the 80's/90's of terminal 2 at LHR. I'm intrigued to know how many gates there were? and what was the layout and did it connect to Terminal 1? Also did airlines have dedicated gates or was it first come first served. Would love any info/pics videos of the interior or aerial layout. Any other trivia welcome such as when did VIASA leave? When did Canadian Airlines move to T4? I think I spotted an Iberia 742 -was that a one-off? Thanks in advance

Might some of your questions be answered here? Check out the LHR album for pics. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 968&type=3

When Flight Connections Centre opened you could walk airside between T1 and T2. Indeed the old EuroLounge was attached to both I think? Later when the EuroPier was built you could certainly walk between the two.
T2 had two piers and the old EuroLounge shared with T1. There were a couple of gates that could take heavies on the end of Pier 1.

Thank you all for these replies - any pics of the various euro 742's at T2?

skipness1E wrote:

When Flight Connections Centre opened you could walk airside between T1 and T2. Indeed the old EuroLounge was attached to both I think? Later when the EuroPier was built you could certainly walk between the two.
T2 had two piers and the old EuroLounge shared with T1. There were a couple of gates that could take heavies on the end of Pier 1.

@skipness1E when was the Europier built/put into action?

For a year or two in the early 80’s AF would send a 747 every Saturday morning.
However, due to AF 747 availability , you’d sometime see either the Air Madagascar 747 or the Air Gabon 747 on this short hop.
I guess they had some kind of deal with these carriers , either maint. Or similar.
LH heavys weren’t common, as they had A300/310’s . Pretty much the same with AZ heavys. TP 747’s also popped in every now and then, but became less common when they got their L1011-500’s.
SR heavys also not so common.
OA /EI 747,s quite regular.
TK DC10’s also. SN DC10’s /747’s quite a rare occurence. SK DC10 quite often, with the odd 747 thrown in. There was also a SK 747 lsd to Nigerian in Nigerian colours, but would regularly be swapped out for a SK liveried 747 when it went tech/ or needed maint.
Plenty of room for wide bodies on the Euro pier, but prior to that G14 was a favourite parking gate for a wide body.
Also FYI, the 2 Golf gates, 12 & 14 were the first at LHR to get jetbridges iirc.

Edit: forgot to add KL, DC10’s more regular than the 747’s which weren’t so common, and similar to the AF deal with the exotic 747’, sometimes you’d see a PAL DC10 on this route.
They also used the Surinam DC8 when DC8’s were common into LHR.

Drofereh wrote:

skipness1E wrote:

When Flight Connections Centre opened you could walk airside between T1 and T2. Indeed the old EuroLounge was attached to both I think? Later when the EuroPier was built you could certainly walk between the two.
T2 had two piers and the old EuroLounge shared with T1. There were a couple of gates that could take heavies on the end of Pier 1.

@skipness1E when was the Europier built/put into action?

Mid 1990s I think?

I found great video which shows an IB 742 pushing back and departing T2 - not sure what date? around 50 mins into the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNWLv2EHvvE

Drofereh wrote:

I found great video which shows an IB 742 pushing back and departing T2 - not sure what date? around 50 mins into the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNWLv2EHvvE

The Lan Chile B747 at 1:36 on that video is a real gem, never seen that pictured at LHR before. Apparently an Aer Lingus aircraft, they did a lot of leases in those days providing a variety of schemes

fcogafa wrote:

Drofereh wrote:

I found great video which shows an IB 742 pushing back and departing T2 - not sure what date? around 50 mins into the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNWLv2EHvvE

The Lan Chile B747 at 1:36 on that video is a real gem, never seen that pictured at LHR before. Apparently an Aer Lingus aircraft, they did a lot of leases in those days providing a variety of schemes

EI-BED AER LINGUS acquired from Lufthansa - Variously leased out to air Algeria, Air Jamaica and even Qantas .

IIRC there was one summer where KQ leased a KL 747 for NBO-LHR flights. I believe the EI 747 DUB-LHR peak season scheduled flights stopped as a competition requirement when they got bailed out.

Drofereh wrote:

I found great video which shows an IB 742 pushing back and departing T2 - not sure what date? around 50 mins into the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNWLv2EHvvE

Great video brought back memories when I used to spot at LHR on the weekends . So many great liveries and variety of aircraft. Good times !

TUGMASTER wrote:

For a year or two in the early 80’s AF would send a 747 every Saturday morning.
However, due to AF 747 availability , you’d sometime see either the Air Madagascar 747 or the Air Gabon 747 on this short hop.
I guess they had some kind of deal with these carriers , either maint. Or similar.
LH heavys weren’t common, as they had A300/310’s . Pretty much the same with AZ heavys. TP 747’s also popped in every now and then, but became less common when they got their L1011-500’s.
SR heavys also not so common.
OA /EI 747,s quite regular.
TK DC10’s also. SN DC10’s /747’s quite a rare occurence. SK DC10 quite often, with the odd 747 thrown in. There was also a SK 747 lsd to Nigerian in Nigerian colours, but would regularly be swapped out for a SK liveried 747 when it went tech/ or needed maint.
Plenty of room for wide bodies on the Euro pier, but prior to that G14 was a favourite parking gate for a wide body.
Also FYI, the 2 Golf gates, 12 & 14 were the first at LHR to get jetbridges iirc.

Edit: forgot to add KL, DC10’s more regular than the 747’s which weren’t so common, and similar to the AF deal with the exotic 747’, sometimes you’d see a PAL DC10 on this route.
They also used the Surinam DC8 when DC8’s were common into LHR.

Not forgetting Garuda/Philippines DC-8s on KLM services; saw my last one of the latter on my last work day there in November 1971.

OA260 wrote:

I spent many hours on the viewing terrace and they also had a Aviation shop . Really were good days.

Does anyone remember how many steps the sign said there was to the top? And how many of you counted the number of steps to verify?

Drofereh wrote:

I often see videos filmed from Queen's building in the 80's/90's of terminal 2 at LHR. I'm intrigued to know how many gates there were? and what was the layout and did it connect to Terminal 1? Also did airlines have dedicated gates or was it first come first served. Would love any info/pics videos of the interior or aerial layout. Any other trivia welcome such as when did VIASA leave? When did Canadian Airlines move to T4? I think I spotted an Iberia 742 -was that a one-off? Thanks in advance

This is all from memory.

I think originally it had 16-20 gates with jetways, but then then a new concourse built between T1 & T2 that could be used by either terminal (I certainly flew from shared gates there). Then on the end of that, the new "EuroPier" was built, but I really don't recall any T2 airlines using the Europier, but that might be incorrect, But certainly to reach the Europier you had to walk through the shared area. The "Flight Connections Centre" was around there too. Flight Connections was a kind of bus station, linking T1/T2 (mainly short haul) with T3 and T4 (mostly long haul).

The T2 downstairs checkin area had a very low ceiling, with a big single row of check in desks as you came in. At one stage Air France had their own concourse in an overflow building. You then went upstairs to the arrivals hall, which had departure security at one end. There was a couple of fairly large waiting lounges pre-departures, which it made sense to use. The security area was tiny, with queues snaking outside even at quiet times, but it was usually fast.. The post security departures area was really tiny, say maybe 3-4 gate lounges in size. The piers had no facilities. The gates were small rooms, so boarding pass checks were at the door, when it was time to board it was just a free for all down the jetway.

Widebody aircraft were pretty common, with lots of A300s and as others have mentioned occasional TAP Tristars and various airlines with DC10s and 747s, but these were typically substitutes. Aeroflot sent IL86's too, and later IL96s, 767s, A310s and 777s.

As others have said, Heathrow doesn't really have dedicated gates.

I worked for AF in T2 in 1987/8 & at the time the AF (& handled airlines) used the area on the far right of the terminal for check in if you were facing the terminal from the road side. It was double height and much lighter & airier than the main check in area. At the time I was there AF handled the twice daily Luxair service with the morning service to LUX being on a 737-200 & the lunchtime on an F27 (if onward bookings to JNB were heavy the Luxair liveried, Luxavia operated 747SP would show up occasionally), daily Tunisair flights (usually a 727, less often a 732). Royal Air Maroc would also send the occasional 747SP & the more usual 757/727/732.
AF & the handled airlines usually used the "G" pier with G12 being the unofficial CDG gate. CDG's would almost always use A300's & we always used the double jetties at G12 (& occasionally G14). AF traffic would also see the A310 (on CDG/NCE), the 727 (on CDG/NCE), 732, TAT F28-1000/4000, FU ATR42's/Brasilias along with the occasional SSC charter & ad hoc 747/ long haul configured A300/310.

The Eurolounge was rarely used by AF as it was the opposite side of the terminal & would usually cause a minor panic if a flight was sent over there at short notice. LH used the facility more often as did SR. I do remember boarding an NCE A310 flight over there on a busy summer weekend, competing with BA at the next gate boarding a NCE flight at the same time on a Tristar.

AF destinations at the time were CDG (8-10 daily A300/A310/727), NCE (1-3 daily A310/727), LIL/SXB (2 daily F28), LYS (2 daily 732/F28), TLS (2 daily 732/F28), BOD (2 daily F28/732), MRS (1 daily 732), NTE (1 daily F28/732), MPL (10 weekly ATR42/Brasilia/F28) & BIQ (1 weekly 732).

IB self handled in T2, Lufthansa self handled (also handling Air Algerie), with BA's Contract Handling Unit handling all other carriers in T2 (CHU were a standalone BA operation that operated in both T2 & T3).

Thanks Edina, fascinating to remember how big AF was at LHR in the days before LCC's that now dominate UK - France routes.

I remember T2.



Some great times had there.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/trav ... rport.html
https://www.civilianaviation.co.uk/foru ... hp?t=24388

In the mid to late 70s, in addition to the mainline fleet including B707 and B747 Air France also used HS748s, Corvettes, Falcon 20s, Fokker 27s and VFW614s to Heathrow!

Here are some photos from inside the old T2 during its later years. You get the general idea. I don't know of any airside photos sadly.

Downstairs check in area


Upstairs arrivals and departures (arrivals is just on the left, there are three or four shops on the left and a couple of cafes upstairs on the balcony)


Pre security waiting lounge (to the right of the above photo)


Departures (picture taken from roughly half way along the second photo)


Enjoy!

edina wrote:

IB self handled in T2, Lufthansa self handled (also handling Air Algerie), with BA's Contract Handling Unit handling all other carriers in T2 (CHU were a standalone BA operation that operated in both T2 & T3).

KLM also self-handled at LHR T2 in the 1970's/1980's with a sizeable operation of:

- 5x daily DC9-32 LHR-RTM
- 3x daily DC8-53/63 LHR-AMS
- 5x daily DC9-32 LHR-AMS

As mentioned KLM B747-200 and DC10-30 were frequent substitutes on LHR-AMS.
In the early 1970's, just before the UK joined the EU, the Sterling exchange rate made London especially cheap for Europeans.
During this time, KLM scheduled a daily B747-200 AMS-LHR-AMS to handle the thousands of bargain hunters.

beachroad wrote:

Here are some photos from inside the old T2 during its later years. You get the general idea. I don't know of any airside photos sadly.



Upstairs arrivals and departures (arrivals is just on the left, there are three or four shops on the left and a couple of cafes upstairs on the balcony)

This is exactly how I remember it. Wish I had taken more pics back then in the 80's.

TC957 wrote:

Thanks Edina, fascinating to remember how big AF was at LHR in the days before LCC's that now dominate UK - France routes.

and of course before the Eurostar! All these stories are great - keep them coming!

Check out the Airport History Lounge FB page for lots of LHR pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 968&type=3

The roof of the check in area was so low as it was originally a car park!