April 5, 2012 - Heathrow’s Games Terminal, which will act as the departure point for the world’s athletes and officials following the Olympic Games, passes a significant construction milestone with a ‘Topping Out’ ceremony. ‘Topping out’ traditionally marks the point at which a structure becomes weatherproof. 

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow is a major airport serving London, England. Located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in West London, Heathrow is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe. 

The Games Terminal will be used for departing athletes and officials for three days following the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony. An extra 40,000 passengers are expected on the 13th August compared with a normal day. 

The Games Terminal, together with bag collections made directly from the Olympic and Paralympic Village, will allow 10,100 athletes and games officials and 37,900 bags to be diverted away from the main terminals.

Heathrow reaches the topping out point for its Games Terminal. (From left) Andy Garner, London 2012 director Heathrow operational readiness; Olympian Jonathan Edwards; and Normand Boivin, chief operating officer at Heathrow Airport.

Jonathon Edwards CBE, former Triple Jumper and Olympic, Commonwealth, European and World Champion will be Guest of Honor at the ceremony. He said “When athletes have finished competing at the Games, the culmination of years and years of training, hard work and utter dedication, the last thing they want to worry about is getting home.

"The Games Terminal will ensure that those flying out of Heathrow will be taken care of and moved through safely and securely so they can relax and enjoy the flight.  It is fantastic to see the progress of construction and in just a few months time it will be buzzing with athletes.” 

No flights will leave from the Games Terminal, instead athletes and games officials will go through check in and security there before being taken by bus to their departure terminals. The Games terminal is roughly the size of three Olympic swimming pools and will have 31 check-in desks, and seven security lanes. It has taken five months from design to reach this stage of construction. After its three day lifespan the Games terminal will be taken down and the site returned to its previous use as a staff car park by November 2012.