heathrow airport

Background

London’s Heathrow Airport, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the fourth busiest airport in the world (as of 2011), handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe. Heathrow Airport is used by over 90 airlines flying to 170 destinations worldwide. The airport is the primary hub of British Airways with heavy traffic round-the-clock.

Scope

Terminal 5 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in March 2008. The terminal has been built at a cost of £4.3 billion and is the largest single building project in Europe by value. It is exclusively used by British Airways and is capable of handling 30 million customers a year at its full capacity. The new terminal consists of a four storey main terminal building (Concourse A) and two satellite buildings linked to the main terminal by an underground people mover transit system. The second satellite (Concourse C) includes dedicated aircraft stands for the Airbus A380. It became fully operational on1 June 2011. The building is so vast it is possible to fit 50 football pitches over Terminal 5’s five floors. At 22 meters, its basement is deep enough to swallow an eight storey building, and is believed to be the largest ever excavated in the UK. RAK Ceramics manufactured and supplied bespoke porcelain tiles for the Terminal 5 building. RAK UK was in competition with several other suppliers and won the contract on technical test grounds.

Results

Modern airport design requires high standards of functionality, safety and durability. RAK Ceramics bespoke porcelain tiles, from our specialist airport range, was chosen by the contractor for its high technical specifications as well as providing an aesthetically pleasing finish.