Heathrow Airport opens gates to new Terminal 2

Terminal 2, or The Queen’s Terminal, will become home to 26 airlines, 23 of which are Star Alliance members, and can handle 20 million passengers.

When fully operational, the terminal will operate 332 daily flights to 54 global destinations. On Wednesday, flyers with United Airlines will be the first to christen the sparkly new halls of Heathrow Airport.

Here’s Terminal 2 by the numbers:

40,000 square meters (or, four times the size of Buckingham Palace)

26 airlines

634 toilets

1,340 parking spots

118,000 individual pieces of equipment, from light fittings to escalators

100,000 test bags that passed through the terminal

33 shops

17 restaurants

20 million passenger capacity

60 check-in desks

66 self-serve check-in desks

6 months of trials and training

14,000 volunteers who helped put the airport through its paces

1,700 familiarization training sessions

7,106 seats

1 personal shopping lounge