Queen Elizabeth II Opens New Terminal at Heathrow Airport

Queen Elizabeth II opened Heathrow Airport’s gleaming new Terminal 5 on Friday, a day after a security breach at the world’s busiest international airport.

The new terminal, the cornerstone of the faded airport’s revival plan, is designed to handle up to 30 million passengers per year and to alleviate congestion at Heathrow’s other terminals, which are all slated for refurbishment or replacement in the coming years.

The queen and her husband, Prince Philip, toured the new facility under heavy security less than 24 hours after a man with a backpack scaled a Heathrow fence and ran onto an active runway, briefly impairing flight operations. Police determined there were no explosives in the bag.

The queen, wearing a festive red hat, was met by executives from British Airways and airport operator BAA at the start of an extensive visit to the new facility, completed after more than five years of construction at a cost of $8.6 billion.

The monarch’s decision to open Terminal 5 personally –just as she opened the airport’s first passenger terminal in 1955- reflects the importance of the new building, which officials believe will reverse the airport’s reputation as a rundown, overcrowded facility.