Heathrow airport: an ever-expanding story

After more than 80 years of service, Heathrow prepares for new runway and a new chapter in its impressive careerHeathrow started life in 1930 after British aero-engineer and plane builder Richard Fairey paid the vicar of Harmondsworth £15,000 for a 60-hectare (150-acre) plot to build a private airport for assembling and testing aircraft. The site had only a single grass runway and a couple of rudimentary buildings. During the second world war, the government requisitioned land around the v