| Heathrow | Gatwick | Stansted | Luton | Croydon | Estuary |
1920s | | 1920 Airfield opens | | | 1920 Airport opens
1928 New terminal opens | |
1930s | 1930 Airfield opens | 1933 Opens to commercial flights
1939 Requisitioned | | 1938 Airfield opens
1939 Requisitioned | 1936 130000 passengers
1939 Requisitioned | |
1940s | 1943 Secretly requisitioned
1946 Opens as London Airport | 1946 Reopens
1949 Will not be developed further
| 1943 Airfield opens
1949 Pencilled in as London's second airport
| | 1946 Reopens, but now second to Heathrow | 1943 Cliffe proposed |
1950s | 1953 Confirmed as London’s 1st airport
1955 First terminal opened
| 1953 Designated London's 2nd airport
1953 Will not have a second runway
1958 Reopens after renovation
| 1953 Pencilled in as backup for Gatwick | 1952 Civil use resumes | 1952 Closure proposed
1959 Closed | |
1960s | 1961 Renamed London (Heathrow)
1966 Renamed Heathrow
1948 14m passengers | 1961 Renamed London (Gatwick)
1963 All charter flights transferred from Heathrow | 1963 Proposed as London's 3rd airport
1965 Public enquiry begins
1966 Placed under BAA control
1967 Confirmed as London's 3rd airport
1968 Ignored by Roskill Commission
| 1968 Luton on Roskill longlist | 1963 3rd airport decision required
1968 Roskill Commission enquiry begins.
Shortlisted sites at:
Thurleigh (Beds)
Cublington (Bucks)
Nuthampstead (Herts)
Maplin (Essex) | 1968 Maplin on Roskill shortlist |
1970s | 1970 Terminal 3 opens
1973 20m passengers
1977 Underground arrives | 1970 Second runway proposed
1973 6m passengers
1974 Second runway abandoned
1979 Agreement not to build a 2nd runway for 40 years | 1973 0.2m passengers
| 1973 3m passengers | 1970 Roskill Commission selects Cublington | 1971 Government selects Maplin instead
1974 New government cancels Maplin
1978 Maplin briefly reconsidered |
1980s | 1986 Terminal 4 opens | 1984 Gatwick Express begins
1987 16m passengers
1988 North Terminal opens | 1984 Development plan approved
1988 1m passengers | 1985 New international terminal opens | City | |
1981 Proposed
1987 Airport opens |
1990s | 1994 50m passengers
1998 Heathrow Express begins | 1998 Runway extended | 1991 New terminal and station opens | 1990 Renamed London Luton Airport
1999 Updated terminal opens | 1997 1m passengers | |
2000s | 2003 3rd runway proposed
2008 Terminal 5 opens
2009 3rd runway approved | 2000 Terminals extended | 2008 2nd runway proposed | 2004 2nd runway proposed
2007 2nd runway cancelled | 2005 DLR station opened | 2002 Cliffe proposed
2003 Cliffe abandoned
2008 Estuary proposed |
2010s | 2010 3rd runway cancelled
2015 75m passengers | 2015 40m passengers | 2010 2nd runway cancelled
2015 22m passengers | 2015 12m passengers | 2015 4m passengers | 2011 Grain proposed
2013 Grain sidelined
2015 Grain dismissed |
2012 Airports Commission set up to consider additional runway
2015 Heathrow and Gatwick on final shortlist
2016 Government decides
2017 Parliament votes |
2020s | tbc | | | | |
2030s | (quite possibly nothing) | | | | |