South African Author Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Facts about Heathrow

Ever wondered just how many flights take off from Heathrow each day and how frequently; or how many passengers are bustling through that busy airport daily? Well, South African author Robert Wicks has recently put the finishing touches to a book which answers these questions and more; revealing the inner workings of the world’s busiest international airport.

Like many South Africans who travel, London’s main airport has played an important part in Rob’s life. It was his first port of entry when he first visited the United Kingdom in 1987, and since relocating from South Africa in 1999 – to Italy for a year before settling in the UK – it has become his regular airport for what has been a rather exceptional amount of travel.

“My frequent flyer statements certainly bear testimony to this,” says Rob. “So regularly am I at 36,000ft that I’ve narrowed my check-in time from taxi to gate to just 40 minutes and recognise many cabin crew, two of whom appear in the book.

“It’s also not unusual for me to go shopping after a trip abroad and feel for the brake on my supermarket trolley, thinking it’s of the luggage variety!”

During his research Rob uncovered some fascinating facts about the airport.

16 Facts you may not have known about Heathrow:

• Around 1,400 flights take off and land every day from Heathrow’s two runways – that’s one every 45 seconds – making it one of the most complex operating environments anywhere in the world.
• There are a daily total of six flights to and from South Africa  (with an extra one in the Winter Season when Virgin also flies to Cape Town).
• It costs about £975m to run Heathrow each year.
• The airport has a cap of 480,000 flight movements per year.
• More than 70 million passengers pass through Heathrow every year.
• Almost 50% of all aircraft movements come from British Airways.
• The airport covers an area of 4.7 square miles.
• The three busiest routes out of Heathrow are New York, Dubai and Dublin
• Around 250,000 passengers pass through the airport on any one day.
• Some 70,000 people work within the fence line at Heathrow making it similar in size to an average UK town.
• At any one point in time, around 200 aircraft are en route to Heathrow from somewhere in the world.
• At least 12 Airbus A380s – the world’s largest passenger aircraft – arrive at Heathrow every day and this number will continue to increase.
• More than 80 airlines operate from Heathrow to some 200 destinations.
• Heathrow is the busiest airport in the world for international flights, with only Atlanta and Beijing boasting more flights of any sort.
• The aircraft that most frequently visits Heathrow is the Airbus A320, followed by the Airbus A319.
• More than 35,000 individual items have to be stocked onto an Airbus A380 before it departs – everything from toilet rolls to teaspoons!

Robert ordinarily works in sports marketing and is the author of four books in the acclaimed Haynes adventure motorcycling series.

But in addition to his love of two wheels, he has always had a passion for aviation. After frequent trips to the airport he began pondering how huge, bustling Heathrow actually ‘works’.

“As a passenger I could only ever get to see a small fraction of the wider operation. It also struck me there were probably a number of people looking for the same answers. It’s quite surprising, then, that nobody else had yet taken on the challenge; and so, some 18 months ago, the book was conceived,” says Rob, who lives in Berkshire with his wife and daughter.

The first of its kind, Rob’s manual – “Heathrow Airport: 1929 onwards” – provides unprecedented insight and access to every aspect of Heathrow and what makes the place tick. It is fully authorised and supported by Heathrow.

“I’ve tried to dissect Heathrow into its constituent parts, looking at everything from how the runways are constructed and maintained, and how the terminals cope, to the complex airspace around Heathrow and, amongst other things, how the airport deals with emergencies,” he says.

Most importantly, the book reflects on how all of these elements come together to ensure that Heathrow plays its vital part in what is best described as the global aviation relay race.

With more than 300 colour photographs and 30 technical illustrations, this book is a fascinating read and brings together the challenges of daily operations at the world’s busiest international airport.

“Heathrow Airport” is available for pre-order online from Haynes Publishing or Amazon, and will be available in all good book stores from the end of April 2014.