The West London Air Terminal was a

check-in Check-in is the process whereby people announce their arrival at an office, hotel, airport, hospital, seaport or event. Office check-in Many offices have a reception or front office area near the entrance to greet or assist visitors arriving to a ...

facility for

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...

flights from Heathrow Airport. It was located on

Cromwell Road Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell, who once owned a hous ...

in Kensington, London, and was in operation from 6 October 1957 to 1 January 1974. After passengers checked in their baggage and received their

boarding pass A boarding pass or boarding card is a document provided by an airline during airport check-in, giving a passenger permission to enter the restricted area of an airport (also known as the airside portion of the airport) and to board the air ...

es, they would travel to Heathrow Airport by coach. One of the drawbacks of using the terminal for checking in was that road traffic could delay the coaches and ultimately delay the departure of the flight.

History

Heathrow Airport started to gradually replace Croydon Airport as London's main airport from 1946 onwards. Croydon Airport used a location near

London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after ...

as its airport terminal but this location was unsuitable for Heathrow Airport, so a committee consisting of the airlines, British Railways and London Transport decided to build a new terminal in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

. In the view of the committee's report of 1954, the best site for the terminal was the

Cromwell Curve The Cromwell Curve was a short section of railway line on the London Underground between Gloucester Road and High Street Kensington stations. The line was opened by the District Railway (DR) on 5 July 1871. The tracks formed a triangle across ...

, a disused section of railway line owned by London Transport, that provided easy access to Heathrow Airport by road. The terminal was designed to replace the

Waterloo Air Terminal The Waterloo Air Terminal was a passenger reception, check-in facility and heliport on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It was used by British European Airways (BEA) and other European airlines between 1953 and 1957, when it was repla ...

. British European Airways (BEA) wanted the terminal ready by September 1957, so a temporary building was erected by

Costain Group Costain Group plc is a British construction and engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead, England. Founded in 1865, its history includes extensive housebuilding and mining activities, but it later focused on civil engineering and commerci ...

. The terminal was built in four-and-a-half months, and opened on 6 October 1957. In the 1960s, a permanent building was built by

Holland, Hannen & Cubitts Holland, Hannen & Cubitts was a major building firm responsible for many of the great buildings of London. History The company was formed from the fusion of two well-established building houses that had competed throughout the later decades of ...

. The architect of this building was Sir John Burnet, Tait and Partners. The new £5 million air terminal was opened by

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

, on 6 November 1963. The six floors above the terminal's concourse were occupied by BEA's passenger-handling staff, reservations unit and accountants. On 26 February 1962, BEA introduced their electronic reservations unit at the terminal. On 17 April 1965, BEA's automatic seat reservation system came into operation. In November 1969, BEA's computerised check-in system came into use. BEA Routemasters, Heathrow Airport, 13 August 1972 (2)

BEA Routemasters, Heathrow Airport, 13 August 1972 (2)

On 11 May 1972, BEA announced the closure of the check-in facilities at the terminal. The check-in facilities closed on 1 January 1974. However, bus services running between the terminal and Heathrow Airport operated until March 1979. In 1983, a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

superstore opened in the western half of the building. The building was bought by Regalian and three Singapore-based partners in August 1997, and converted to Point West apartments above the Sainsbury's store.

Incidents

*On 7 December 1963, a fire affected the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the terminal. *On 28 September 1973, eight people were injured when a bomb exploded in the terminal.

References

{{coords, 51.4952, -0.1873, display=title Airport terminals Aviation in London Former buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea History of Heathrow Airport Buildings and structures completed in 1957 Transport infrastructure completed in 1957 1957 establishments in England