London Heathrow. (Photo: Getty Images).

With over 80 million passengers in 2018, and over 470,000 take-offs and landings you can sort of see why.

You may just think that when allocating your terminal the staff at Heathrow just draw lots out of hats or give you the next space on the calendar, but there’s actually a lot more thought put into it. The decision is actually all to do with what airline you fly with.

First of all lets deal with the elephant in the room…why is there no terminal 1? The truth is, Terminal 1 did exist at one stage, and for quite a few years.

It was in operation between 1968 and 2015, having been officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen in April 1969, when it became the largest airport terminal in western Europe.

Yet by the time it closed on June 29 (2015), the terminal had only been handling 20 British Airways flights a day to nine destinations, which compared to the approximate 1,300 flights per day across the other terminals, is pretty small.

The powers that be decided that terminal 2 needed to expand and terminal 1 was going to be the one to make way.

So how are the terminals decided?

The best way to think of the airlines is like footballers, who all play for different football teams.

However, unlike the Premier League there are only a small amount of teams. The teams are Star Alliance, One World, and Sky Team.

There is also International Airlines Group (IAG) but they are actually play for One World, which adds to the confusion.

What are you talking about? 

Star Alliance, One World, and Sky Team are all separate airline alliances. As an airline you can only be part of one alliance and that comes down to the right fit and whether you are accepted into the club.

The reasoning behind it is that it is better to cooperate than always compete. Under alliances, airlines can save money, be more efficient and help each other out.

Which airlines are with which alliance?

Star Alliance includes: Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines plus many more.

One World includes: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airlines plus many more.

Sky Team includes: Aeroflot, Air Europa, Air France, China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Kenya Airline, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, XiamenAir and many more.

What do the alliances have to do with the terminals at Heathrow?

This is the key question. Basically, what airport alliance your airline is with determines what terminal you fly from.

Star Alliance airlines fly from terminal 2. One World fly from terminal 3. And Sky Team fly from terminal 4. It is that simple.

A few airlines buck to trend, such as some non aligned airlines fly from terminal 2.

Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines, Middle East Airlines and several other non-aligned airlines fly from terminal 3.

And Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and most non-aligned airlines go from terminal 4.

So what about terminal 5 ?

Terminal 5 was originally allocated to British Airways when it opened, but Iberia now also flies from terminal 5.

This is because in 2011 British Airways and Iberia came together in a merger to form IAG, which immediately gave Iberia access to terminal 5.

Although IAG is part of One World it still maintains its special status at Heathrow Airport.

Without British Airways having special status at Heathrow it would be joining its pals from One World at terminal 3.

It really is that simple.

Cre: Mylondon news

Nguyen Xuan Nghia – COMM