Greg66

Me, to collect a friend. Not BA.

I can’t remember what year it was the last time I flew BA from T4 - the place where I had my first even long haul upgrade to Club (cradle seat days). Fond memories.

On coming back, I had a very strong memory flash driving past Hatton Cross tube and then under the flight path.

The building seems just as isolated from the rest of the airport as ever. And it’s… small. Really small. The landside arrivals area verges on tiny. Not a huge number of flights coming into today, which presumably is to do with its size.

I wonder what use is made of the Concorde Room now. Would love to know.

Genius1

The Concorde Room became the SkyTeam lounge in 2009 (after a full strip-out and refit), although this never re-opened post-pandemic.

Significant changes were made to the terminal once BA left. Aside from a refurbishment throughout, the check-in hall was extended out over what was originally the drop-off forecourt, the baggage reclaim hall was extended, a new building was added to accommodate two lounges, and four gates were converted to accommodate the A380.

camdentown

I walked through T4 landslide recently and it brought back memories and made me nostalgic for the old days

I remember how large it seemed to be at the time, but now compared to T5 it seems small! Although not small compared to many (eg T8 at JFK, the old BA terminal).

One tip , if you are at T4 and need to change to other terminals, the recommended route is via "train" ie. the Elizabeth line. However this isn't as frequent as the Tube, which will get you there quicker and is just as convenient.

Swanhunter

The evil that is Victor zone still remains! The old arrivals lounge seems to have become a bit of retail and some lavatories as far as I can make out.

Mekko

The good ol' days of deep red plastic check-in desks and black sealant, the start of a lot of childhood memories of middle-eastern long-haul...

KARFA

depends where you are going of course.

so if heading to T5 the bus is far better as it is direct - 482/490.

t3 then ideally get crossrail since the Heathrow Central station is a lot closes to T3. but as you note crossrail is only every 30 minutes so if there isn't one due in the next 5 minutes then head for the tube.

for t2 the tube is better since it is closer to t2 and as you note more frequent as well.

Never Stansted

I haven’t flown from there for years but I find I’m there quite often as the hotels are such good value…

Greg66

I only ever made it in there a couple of times, both after Concorde was taken out of service. I remember looking wistfully at the doors from which I understand passengers boarded from the CR directly onto Concorde. My memory though of where it was in the building has completely gone - looking at a map of T4 would it have been adjacent to where gate 7 now is?

TimmyD

In a similar vein, what’s happened to T1? The gates all look like they’re there and it probably had the easiest connection from Tube and HEX. Is everything still there but mothballed? And what are the plans for the space. Fond memories of that place (except for the Irish pier!)

Agree T4 seems like an oasis these days, mind you so does anything compared to T5 now

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Some photos here ( looks a bit eerie)

Inside Heathrow Airport's abandoned Terminal 1 that's been left empty for 7 years - MyLondon


The plan was for it to be demolished to expand T2 gates but with the reduction in traffic not sure of the current plans.

T4 hotels are reasonable. ie in Mid october the HGI T2/T3 is over Ł350pn whereas the Hilton T4 is only c Ł130pn

Regards

TBS

Rubecula

2 memories of the T4 BA Concorde lounge from the late 90s are:
1 The first time encountering someone wandering around with a loud voice using a mobile phone.
2 A passenger pouring a large slug of Blue Label and mixing it with Coke.

skipness1E

The Europier and Piers 3 and most of 4 were demolished, leaving only the old Shuttle lounge and Pier 4A, aka. "The Green Mile".

Genius1

The part of the building that the BA Arrivals lounge was in was demolished to make way for the expanded baggage reclaim hall. From the landside arrivals hall, all you can see is a toilet block.

There was indeed direct boarding from the Concorde Room down stairs or in a lift to gate level. The entrance to the lounge was (and still is) opposite Gate 10, whilst the gate Concorde typically used was Gate 21 (according to current numbering).

Parts of the terminal (mainly some of the piers) were demolished to make way for the Kilo taxiway and remote aircraft stands that will eventually be pier-served from an expanded T2A. The bulk of the terminal remains as the departures baggage system for T2 is actually the old T1 system. There's a live project to fit-out T2's baggage system, after which T1 will be progressively demolished and T2A expanded.

Duck1981

My very first flight to the US (and first long haul) left from T4 on a BA 777 to BOS in Dec 2006.

I was a student that time in Birmingham and I was incredibly excited; I remember that was I was quite impressed by the terminal. I think I compared it to the old T1 I was used to for my flights to Germany which felt very local compared to it.

the flight was fairly empty so I had a full row for myself - icing on the cake.

RGS5526

Nothing much about T4 itself sticks in my memory. What I do remember is the transfer between T1 and T4 by bus through the cargo tunnel under the western runway. Then there was the high level route from the bus drop-off point in T1 to the scrum outside domestic security, and the annoyance when it was closed and everyone was forced to run the gauntlet of the shops.