BRITAIN'S busiest airport has a hidden terminal which almost no-one is allowed into.
Terminal 1 was once the largest of its kind in , but now lies empty and inaccessible to the public.
opened the terminal in , which was the envy of air travel worldwide.
The first flight it hosted was a 100-seater Vanguard service to Edinburgh, operated by British European Airways, forerunner to BA.
This began a new era of travel, as Britons were able to journey beyond the UK's on a scale previously unseen.
Millions of , and used the terminal as a gateway to the world – making the most of its cutting-edge and huge capacity.
But this golden age wasn't to last forever.
As the years went by got bigger and bigger, and the terminal had difficulty keeping up with the rapid advances in aircraft.
Heathrow upgraded T1 by adding an additional for plane parking in the 90s, to help it host the increasingly sizeable aircraft.
As late as 2005, the terminal was given an expanded departure lounge, along with new areas and spaces.
But these could only do so much to prop-up the airport, and in 2015, T1 was closed for good under plans to expand Heathrow.
By the time the final flight left its runway, travelling to Hanover at 9:30pm on June 29, 2015, the terminal could only handle 20 flights per day, to just nine destinations using BA.
Shortly after shutting its doors, Heathrow's management opted to gradually the terminal over the following five to ten years.
Two years after the terminal's closure, its contents were largely stripped and sold for
Items sold largely fell into two different categories: for collectors, and snapped up by airport chiefs from developing countries.
Air bridges, luggage , retro and even the signature BA ‘Welcome to Heathrow' sign were up fro grabs.
Nigel Naden, of Indassol, Heathrow's asset managers, said at the time: “It is a commercial offering to airports, but the memorabilia is really for enthusiasts and members of the public.
“Collectors will recognise the type face and colour schemes which can only be for Terminal One. If you are in that kind of world, they are of real interest.”
Today, Heathrow's website says the terminal is ‘kept fit for purpose for and route reasons'.
The maintenance team operate around the terminal to maintain the building to ‘a very high standard'.
Emergency service teams, such as the London , the Service, and the Met Police, use the terminal for training sessions.
As many as 200 people can use the space for drills at any one time.
The building is also used to help the smooth-running of Heathrow's Terminal 2, by housing its baggage system.
All bags which are checked into T2 are processed in T1, and any disrupted bags are brought to the ‘purge area' – the old international reclaim hall in Terminal 1, and stored there until they are cleared.
At present, T1 remains ‘very much a part of the Heathrow ‘, though this could change in future, if it needs to be demolished to make room for a further expansion of T2.
