Heathrow's new Terminal 2 will be officially named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II when it opens next year.
The £2.5 billion facility, which is scheduled to open its doors on June 4, will be called Terminal 2: The Queen's Terminal.
The monarch opened the original Terminal 2 in 1955, almost 60 years ago and two years after her coronation.
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow's development director, said: "The Queen opened the original Terminal 2 more than half a century ago and we're delighted that Her Majesty has kindly agreed to give her name to the new Terminal 2.
"Everyone at Heathrow is extremely proud of our long association with The Queen and we know the new Terminal 2 will be a fitting continuation of that tradition."
That "long association" dates back to 1952, when the former Princess Elizabeth returned to Heathrow as Queen Elizabeth II, after her father, George VI, died while she was touring Kenya.
In 1969, the Queen formally inaugurated Terminal 1 and, in 1977, unveiled the London Underground connection between central London and Heathrow – the first link of its kind to connect a capital city with its major airport.
More recently, she officially opened Terminal 5 in 2008.
The new Terminal 2 will eventually serve 20 million passengers each year (see online news, June 4). The first aircraft, a United Airlines flight from Chicago, is scheduled to land at 0555 on June 4, 2014.
Prior to the opening, there will be six months of testing involving 14,000 people in 182 trials.
The terminal will be home to 25,000 staff and 23 Star Alliance airlines, as well as Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings.
It will open in phases, with the 26 airlines moving in over a period of six months. Just 10 per cent of flights will operate for the first three weeks of June before gradually building up to full operations.
The privately-funded development replaces the old Terminal 2, which was demolished in 2009.
For more information, visit heathrowairport.com.
Graham Smith
