When was Heathrow Airport near London first built or established?
Before 1930 Before aviation started, Heathrow was a hamlet, an isolated row of cottages on Hounslow Heath called Heath Row located approximately where Terminal 3 is now. World War I: Aviation began on the site when fields south-east of Heathrow hamlet were turned into a military airfield. 1930s and 1940s 1930s: By now the airfield, then known as the Great Western Aerodrome, was privately owned by the Fairey Aviation Company, and was used for aircraft assembly and testing. Commercial traffic used Croydon Airport, which was London’s main airport at the time. 1943: Heathrow came under the control of the Air Ministry, to be developed as a Royal Air Force transfer station. 1944: Construction of runways began, on land originally acquired from the vicar of Harmondsworth. The new airport was built by Wimpey Construction, much enlarging the pre-war airfield, and Heathrow hamlet was demolished to make room for it. The Royal Air Force never used the airport. 1 January 1946: Control was transferre
