Heathrow Airport Terminal 3

Terminal 3 opened on November 13, 1961, as the Oceanic Terminal to handle flight departures of foreign carriers for long-haul routes to the United States, Asia, and other Far Eastern destinations.

At this time, the airport was operating a direct helicopter service to central London from the gardens on the roof of the terminal building. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building. Other facilities added included Britain's first moving walkways. In 2006, the new £105 million Pier 6 was completed to accommodate the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

Emirates and Qantas operate regular flights from Terminal 3 using the Airbus A380.

The redevelopment of Terminal 3's forecourt was completed in 2007, with the addition of a new four-lane drop-off area and a large pedestrian plaza complete with canopy to the front of the terminal building. These improvements aimed to improve passengers' experience, reduce traffic congestion and increase safety.

As part of this project, Virgin Atlantic was allocated its own dedicated check-in area known as 'Zone A', which includes a large sculpture and atrium. As of 2013, Terminal 3 has an area of ​​98,962 m2 (1,065,220 sq ft) with 28 gates and served 19.8 million passengers on 104,100 flights in 2011. Terminal 3 is home to Oneworld members (all from Terminal 5, except Iberia, Qatar Airways and American's flights to JFK, which use Terminal 4, and Malaysia Airlines and Royal Air Maroc), SkyTeam members Air France. Delta Air Lines, KLM and Middle East Airlines, all new airlines and several independent carriers.