Heathrow Airport Pier 6
Heathrow airport Pier 6 development was built for the new A380 superjumbo. When the world's largest passenger aircraft arrives at the world's busiest international airport in 2006, it will pull up to a brand new state-of-the-art building designed specifically to meet the needs of the aircraft.
Heathrow is spending £450m to ensure it is ready for the Airbus A380. This includes built a brand new building, known as Pier 6, that will take them to the aircraft, offering spectacular views of the runway and the aircraft itself.
Pier 6 has 4 gate rooms that will make-up the new 280 metre long glass-fronted building. Heathrow will be one of the first airports in the world ready for the A380. Runways have been widened, taxiways have been moved, new baggage belts have been installed and lights repositioned.
Two dedicated stands at Terminal 4 are also being built and some of the stands at Terminal 5 will be able to accommodate larger generation aircraft.
Facts about Heathrow Pier 6
- Pier 6 is on three levels and will be fully segregated. There will be four gate rooms, seating a total of 2200 passengers.
- Each gate room will be capable of serving one A380, but two of the gate rooms have a multi aircraft ramp system (MARS) and will be capable of serving two A320's simultaneously instead.
- As well as an airline first class lounge , Pier 6 will have two small retail units, a coffee shop at departures level and a Bureau de Change on arrivals. At apron level there is 1,600 sq. metres of offices and storage space for airlines and handling agents.
- The Pier 6 footprint measures 280 metres by 20 metres. An A380 stand is 82 metres wide and 90 metres deep.
- At 280m long Pier 6 is longer than Bournemouth Pier
- Each A380 stand measures 89m, which is almost the size of Big Ben
- Pier 6 development's structure was designed by architects GMW. Ruddle Wilkinson are the fit out architects.
- The principle contractor on Pier 6 is Mace.
- The old Pier 6 was closed on 2 August 2004 and demolished over a period of 4 months.
Facts about the Airbus A380
- An A380 measures 72.7m in length, has a 79.6m wingspan and is 24.1m high
- An A380 is 49ft wider, more than 6ft longer and 118 tons heavier - or 30% bigger - than the Boeing 747
- An A380 is as high as a seven-storey block of flats or four London Double Decker buses placed on top of each other
- BAA Heathrow expects to handle 65 A380 flights a day by 2015
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