An Airbus A380 – the world’s largest passenger plane – has docked for the first time beside Heathrow’s new Terminal 2B to test one of its new aircraft stands.

Terminal 2B is described as the biggest ever airside construction project at the airport and has entered its final commissioning stage. The £590M scheme provides an additional 16 aircraft stands on the site of the old Terminal 2, which has been demolished.

Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2 development director Steve Livingstone said: “We are in the middle of undertaking 180 tests involving 14,000 volunteers before we open the doors to our first passengers on 4 June.

“Arrival of the first A380 aircraft on to the stand marks another milestone for us. We hope the terminal will welcome 20M passengers every year.”

Main contractor Balfour Beatty’s aviation director John Keaveney added: “We are working hard to continue operational testing of Terminal 2B ready for when it enters full service this summer.”

The company employed 1600 people at the height of the project and worked with over 100 subcontractors and suppliers.

Terminal 2B is situated between the airport’s two runways and measures 552m by 36m. Aircraft will arrange themselves next to each other on both sides of the building in a ‘toast rack’ configuration to make best use of space.

(Photo: Balfour Beatty)

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