Watch London Airport

Overview

In April 1944 The Great Western Aerodrome started its transformation from a privately owned small grass airfield to Heathrow; by 1946 one of the world’s busiest airports. Requisitioned by the Air Ministry in 1944, the site was officially earmarked as a major transport base for the Royal Air Force (RAF), which would at the end of the war evolve into London’s main civil airport replacing Croydon Airport. However it has been suggested that the official proposal as an RAF base was merely a ruse to circumvent a public inquiry and to quell criticism that the war effort was being diverted to construct a civilian airport which could await the end of hostilities. The airport opened fully for civilian use on 31 May 1946, but back then London Heathrow International Airport’s one terminal was in fact an army surplus tent situated a short walk from the aircraft.

Production

• Central Office of Information for Ministry of Civil Aviation

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