Time Flies: Heathrow at 60

by Alan Gallop

Heathrow is 60 on January 1st, 2006. In 1946 a handful of airlines made only 9,000 flights to 18 destinations. In 2000 over 90 airlines served around 160 destinations world-wide, operating an average of 1,250 flights per day. This is the busiest airport in the world. Alan Gallop chronicles Heathrow's first 60 years, exploring how a small agricultural community on the outskirts of London became the site of the world's leading international airport. The story opens on January 1st, 1946, Heathrow's first official day of operations when a converted Lancaster bomber operated by British South American Airways inaugurated the airport's first ever flight - a 35-hour journey to Buenos Aires. In tracing one of many first-hand accounts, Gallop has spoken to some of those who crewed that very first flight. Bringing together Heathrow's human and commercial histories, the book includes stories from all of the airport's six decades, told by the people who were there. Using previously unpublished interviews and illustrations, Time Flies is a sometimes critical but always balanced and entertaining look at the triumphs, tribulations - and controversies - that made Heathrow what it is today.

220 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005