London Heathrow Airport (LHR) Flights & Flight Status

London Heathrow Airport is the UK’s busiest, serving 79.2 million passengers in 2023 alone. The airport has four terminals and two runways, with its huge size allowing it to cater to over 200 international destinations in the 84 countries it serves. Interestingly, there’s no Terminal 1 – this was closed in 2015 to allow for the expansion of Terminal 2.

Heathrow is the gateway to London, with the capital city under an hour away via car or public transport. London is a city famed for its blend of the historic and contemporary, from museums and landmarks like Buckingham Palace to a hugely diverse shopping and food scene – there’s really something for everyone.

Travelling between Heathrow Airport and London

You can jump in a licensed taxi outside of Heathrow Airport and be in the centre of London in around an hour on a good run of traffic – but it certainly isn’t the most economical or quickest option. The Heathrow Express is a non-stop service that takes passengers to London Paddington station in just 15 minutes. Buy your tickets in advance for the best rate.

For those on a budget, hop on a tube train at one of Heathrow’s three London Underground stations and reach central London in under an hour. You can buy single journey tickets from machines at the stations, or tap in and out via a contactless credit or debit card for quick and easy travel.

Public transport routes to the rest of England and the UK

There is so much more to the UK than London, and Heathrow acts as the perfect springboard to destinations outside of the capital city. Buses and coaches run regularly between Heathrow Airport and national rail stations at Feltham, Guildford, Reading, Watford Junction and Woking, where you can make onward journeys to towns and cities across the country.

The UK is connected by an extensive rail network, and it’s best to book your train tickets as far in advance as you can for the best prices. There aren’t seat reservations on every route, so be sure to arrive at the train station with plenty of time to spare to give yourself the best chance of getting a seat. There is also a huge network of coaches and buses across the country.

The National Express is a long-distance coach service that connects cities like London and Manchester and is much more budget-friendly than the train. If you’re visiting more remote areas, most will be connected by a local bus service, but these can be irregular so be sure to plan ahead. Renting a car may be a better option, which you can do directly from Heathrow.

Hiring a car at Heathrow Airport

Hiring a car is a great idea if you plan to visit many parts of the UK rather than just London. While the public transport network is good, having a car offers much more flexibility to explore the quieter corners of England and beyond. There are car hire desks at all four of Heathrow’s terminals served by major companies like Sixt, Avis and Europcar.

I don’t recommend hiring a car to explore London (the traffic is crazy and the public transport network is much more efficient) but if a car is essential for your needs, remember you may need to pay the congestion and ULEZ charges. Be sure to do your research on if this impacts the areas of London you’re visiting before driving into the city as you could be hit with hefty fines otherwise.

Travelling internationally from Heathrow Airport

From Heathrow, you can fly to 214 destinations across 84 countries, with 89 airlines serving the airport to choose from. The most popular destinations from London Heathrow are Dubai, New York, Madrid, Doha and Dublin, but the extensive network flies directly to a huge host of destinations across the world including Perth in Australia, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Shanghai in China.

Its extensive connectivity also makes it a great airport to start a two leg journey at or even use as a layover destination. You can also catch onward flights to other parts of the UK from Heathrow, including Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow in Scotland, Manchester in the north of England and Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Airport hotels

There are a number of hotels just a short taxi journey from Heathrow, but each terminal also has a hotel that’s connected to the airport too. My favourite is Sofitel at Terminal 5, which is a huge luxury hotel that even has a few shops. I stayed at the hotel ahead of an early morning long haul flight and was very happy to find a huge bathtub and gigantic bed awaiting me.

For dinner, we opted to walk over the connected walkway to the airport to eat at The Globe, an independent craft beer and food restaurant that you can find just before security. The menu offers English pub classics as well as American dishes and breakfasts too. Get the nachos to share and the halloumi burger for your main – you won’t regret it!

Priority security

Like many airports in Europe, Heathrow offers Fast Track security with advance booking. Simply make the booking before your trip, arrive at the Fast Track zone, show your confirmation and skip the security line. I especially recommend this when travelling on the most popular travel days like Fridays, Saturdays and UK bank holiday weekends when the airport can get very busy and crowded.

Fast Track at Heathrow is also offered by some airlines to passengers travelling in premium cabins, selected frequent flyer cardholders and American Express Centurion Card holders. Eligible airlines include Emirates, Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas and many more, so be sure to check your flight confirmation before making the Fast Track booking – you could save yourself some important in-flight snack money!

Heathrow lounges

There is at least one lounge at every terminal at Heathrow – I’m a fan of the Plaza Premium Lounge at Terminal 5, which we used ahead of our honeymoon trip to Japan. It’s a calm space away from the madness of the busy terminal, offering hot and cold food and packaged items to go, as well as good Wi-Fi (a rarity in airports, I find). The maximum stay is three hours.

Food and shopping

Heathrow offers a huge range of shopping opportunities – in fact, I would say it’s the best airport I’ve ever visited when it comes to shops! From Cartier to Clarins to WHSmith, you will be able to find what you need ahead of a flight (with a few things that you just ‘want’ thrown in, of course). Don’t forget about World Duty Free either – it’s a really good one!

When it comes to restaurants, you can take your pick from the finer dining experience to fast food options. One of my favourite pre-flight meals can be found at British chain Wagamama – some people may scoff at this (particularly my fellow Brits), but I love Asian food and the restaurant’s menu is inspired by Japanese cuisine – I’ve honestly never had a bad meal there.

If you’re looking for something a little more special in Terminal 5, head to the Fortnum & Mason Bar for a pre-flight cocktail. If grab-and-go is more your vibe, take your pick from itsu, Pret A Manger or Starbucks. There’s also Giraffe, which has really good burgers (not made from giraffe meat, in case you’re wondering).

Heathrow Rewards

If you expect to travel through Heathrow often, it might be worth signing up for a Heathrow Rewards card. For every £1 you spend in the airport, you’ll receive one Heathrow Rewards point. You can also boost your balance by transferring Heathrow Rewards points into one of the airport’s travel partner airline rewards schemes – each 250 points can be transferred to 250 Avios/Miles.

When you reach 500 points, you can enjoy £5 off throughout the airport or £10 off pre-booked official Heathrow parking. It may take a while to add up (or maybe not if you like to treat yourself at the airport, no judgement here) but Heathrow Rewards is easy to sign up to so why not reap some extra benefits from your shopping habit?

My experience of Heathrow Airport and London

As a UK native, I use Heathrow Airport for almost all of my long haul trips as it offers the best range of direct flights to the most far flung destinations around the world. For my most recent long haul trip, I flew to Tokyo, Japan from Heathrow with British Airways.

As mentioned, the breadth of hotels at the airport meant it was easy to get a good night’s sleep just a stone’s throw away before the long journey. For those arriving at Heathrow, it’s a relatively quick journey from the hub to central London. My tip? Jump on the Elizabeth Line, London Underground newest line, for modern, air-conditioned tube lines to west London stations.