Heathrow Domestic Pier
 

I was through the old domestic pier tonight and getting nostalgic in the way one does when approaching end of life. I mean Terminal 1 not me......

However as my flight was late I noticed a few things I had missed. For instance, there's a Gate 7, complete with glazed walkway, but no Stand 107! Was there an A7 back in the day? Indeed was there an A9 which is now 109?

If anyone has an old parking chart, 80s or 90s that would be awesome. I have From The Flightdeck 1 LHR-ORD in storage somewhere in which the relevant chart was printed. I used to fly GLA-LHR a lot in the 90s, but further down the pier beyond the BA gates was BFS gates and out of bounds to non travelling passengers.

Also, when was Gate 8 extended with the big glass add on? Trying to date some memories. Theres lots of pics on airliners.net but few of the domestic pier due to the lack of 09L departures alas.

IIRC there were either 4 or 5 Alpha stands on the NW side of Pier 4, and they were certainly numbered sequentially (odd numbers, obviously) starting with A1 where the Shuttle gateroom was.

So definitely an A7, maybe an A9 - it was a long time ago !

Does this help? It is circa 2000 as far as I know but may show what you're looking for.

http://www.vc10.net/div/LHR_centre_2000ish.jpg

T1 is without a doubt the most complicated airport terminal in the world to get around/work in. Next door to Gate 5 is Gate 74 (or something similar) for instance.

Will be a shame to see it go, but the place has seen better days. The new T2 will be an excellent facility.

Found this photo, which must be mid/late-1970s judging by the mix of BEA/BA schemes:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/...f6eb91e9_z.jpg

Visible (just) are the Alpha stands (abeam the taxying aircraft), with A1 having disappeared under the Shuttle gateroom, A3 with a Trident parked at an angle, what looks like a pocket DC-9 on A5, and A7 empty.

Doesn't look like there was an A9, so 4 stands on the Alpha side and 5 on the Bravo side of Pier 4.

Great image! Interesting to see how much further the pier was extended in the 80s.

Are there plans online showing the new T2?

That map in reply three is either wrong or not from 2000. The Novembers are numbered wrong as are the Hotels. Actually I suspect it may be late 80s as the Europier hasn't been built yet. I assume those stands on which the Europier stands were bussing stands?

I love that photo as well.

There appear to be a couple of light aircraft (one a King Air ?) on the left hand side.

Where were the aircraft stands for the Shuttle Gateroom ? If I recall correctly there were four "doors" A to D on the airside of it, but there isn't the space for four Tridents to pull up against it, and for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester regular flights, plus backups, four was probably not enough (Belfast Shuttle, again IIRC, left from its own gate with additional security).

Mods, can we move this thread to Airport Luggage Carousels

Thank you.

SGC

Back in your box and learn some tolerance matey! There's always one, sadly.

As to the Shuttle lounge, in later years Gate 5 had direct pier access to Gates A1, A3 and A5, as well as a walk to the Novembers. The respective gates were 5A, 5B and 5C with 5D involving a flight of stairs into the building somewhere, and presumably a bus.

Gate 49 rings a bell, I think it was used for both BA and BD Belfast flights, served by a couple of the November stands, though I could be wrong.

I date that chart as pre-86. I worked in the VCR '86-'01 yet don't recall an A7 during that time.

When was the corrugated 'Irish' pier added? I'm guessing it was supposed to be temporary.

LHR is fascinating...I'd love to see a documented history of how the site has developed, but haven't found one yet...

Google 'Heathrow: 2000 Years of History' by Philip Sherwood, Sutton Publishing.

PPRuNe Link

The gentleman who sent it to me worked in the area until 2000-2001 so I figured that this would be the latest one that he had access to. Apparently it is not but I am not that familiar with the centre area (I used to work in TBA for a while) and could not tell how old it was. Happy to be corrected!

Ah, "The Cowshed".

Was pier 3 cut short again only in preparation for T2B, or was it prior to that?

Was in T2B the other day for the first time...amazed at the scale of the pier. And checking on Google Earth, it looks like the T5 satellites are even wider. LHR expansion is clearly not being done on the cheap!

Also worth reading are:

Time Flies: Heathrow at 60 by Alan Gallop

Heathrow Airport: The First 25 Years by Charles Woodley

Heathrow ATC - The first 50 years by Brian Piket & Pete Bish

It was truncated to allow access to stands on the north side of the Europier and 120 / 122 reopened on Pier 2. This was done around the time 231-233 came into use on T2B. I flew FRA-LHR in 2010 just after it had been cut at stand 121 and was bussed from what is now 121L.