Heathrow Airport Terminals: Which Terminal, How to Get Between Them and What Each Offers

Which Terminal Your Airline Uses

Heathrow terminal allocations change periodically when airlines switch. Always confirm your terminal on your boarding pass or ticket before travelling. The listings below reflect 2026 allocations.

Terminal 2 (The Queen's Terminal):

Star Alliance carriers and partner airlines. Specific airlines include:

• United Airlines (US)
• Lufthansa (Germany)
• Air Canada
• All Nippon Airways (Japan)
• Singapore Airlines
• Turkish Airlines
• Swiss International Air Lines
• Austrian Airlines
• TAP Air Portugal

Terminal 3:

Non-Star Alliance international carriers. Specific airlines include:

• American Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Qantas
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Aer Lingus
• Virgin Atlantic (some services)
• Japan Airlines
• Finnair

Terminal 4:

Skyteam and select other carriers:

• Korean Air
• Malaysia Airlines
• Saudi Arabian Airlines
• Sri Lankan Airlines

Terminal 5 (British Airways Terminal):

British Airways exclusively uses Terminal 5. All British Airways flights depart from and arrive at Terminal 5. This includes codeshare services where you hold a British Airways ticket number.

• British Airways (all routes)
• Iberia (select routes operated by British Airways)

Important exception: When British Airways codeshares with other airlines, your physical departure terminal depends on which airline actually operates the aircraft. Check carefully if your ticket is issued by British Airways but operated by a partner.

How to Transfer Between Terminals

Free inter-terminal bus (free within the airport boundary):

Heathrow operates a free bus service connecting all terminals. The service runs 24 hours. Journey times:

Elizabeth Line (between terminals 2/3, 4 and 5):

The Elizabeth Line connects Terminal 2 and 3 (shared station), Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 as separate stations. This is the fastest route between Terminal 5 and Terminals 2/3.

If you are travelling between terminals within the airport boundary (not entering London), your Oyster or contactless card is not charged for this Elizabeth Line journey.

Important: Terminal 4 is physically separated from the main terminal cluster. Allow 20 to 25 minutes for any transfer involving Terminal 4.

What Each Terminal Offers

Terminal 2 (Landside and Airside)

Landside (before security):

• Pret a Manger, Costa Coffee, WHSmith, Boots
• Currency exchange: Moneycorp and ICE bureaux de change
• Car hire desks: Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, National

Airside (after security):

• Jamie Oliver restaurant, Gordon Ramsay Plane Food, Carluccio's
• World Duty Free (3,000 sq m)
• Terminal 2 has the World Duty Free Walk-Through Departures feature

Terminal 5

The largest and most modern of Heathrow's terminals:

• Terminal 5A handles most long-haul British Airways departures
• Terminal 5B and 5C connect by internal transit train (2 minutes)

Airside facilities:

• Harrods airside shop, Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food
• 95 retail and food outlets across the three buildings
• British Airways Galleries Lounge (for Club World and First passengers, and eligible frequent flyer status holders)
• Plaza Premium Lounge (pay-per-visit; £55 to £80 for 3 hours; booking at loungepass.com)

Priority Pass Lounges at Heathrow

Priority Pass covers several independent lounges at Heathrow available to anyone with a valid Priority Pass card:

Day access without Priority Pass: £35 to £55 per person. Book online at loungepass.com or No1Lounges.com for advance discount.

Arrivals: What to Expect at Each Terminal

All terminals share a similar arrivals process:

1. Border Force (UK Border Control): Allow 15 to 45 minutes during peak times. E-gates are available for biometric passport holders from the UK, EU, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.
2. Baggage reclaim: 15 to 30 minutes after clearing border control.
3. Customs (Nothing to Declare or Red Channel).
4. Arrivals hall with transport connections, currency exchange and meeting points.

Fastest border crossing: Terminals 2 and 5 have the most e-gates and typically process passengers fastest. Terminal 4 has the fewest e-gates and regularly produces the longest border control queues. If you have a choice of arrival terminal, Terminals 2 and 5 are faster.