Waterloo Air Terminal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 replaced by the West London Air Terminal. Passengers checked in, were issued with a boarding card, and were transported to either London (now Heathrow) Airport or Northolt Airport using a fleet of coaches.
,_Showbus_2007.jpg)
In 1952, British European Airways (BEA) announced that it was to build a new London air station to replace the existing premises at Kensington.[1] The three-acre site had been used for the 1951 Festival of Britain and was adjacent to London Waterloo station and connected by escalator to Waterloo tube station.[1] The terminal building was created by modifying the festival's Station Gate building.[1] The site was owned by the London County Council, and BEA took a five-year lease on it. It was expected that the conversion of the Station Gate building and the preparation of a coach park would cost £90,000.[2]
Operation
The terminal began operation on 19 May 1953, with the first coach leaving for Heathrow; it was officially opened two days later by Alan Lennox-Boyd, the Minister of Civil Aviation. The terminal allowed passengers to check in for flights of not only BEA but other European airlines, and was designed to cope with 2,000 passengers per hour.[3] During the first year 900,000 passengers passed through the terminal.[2]
