Heathrow Terminal Guide — which of T2, T3, T4 or T5 are you flying from?

Heathrow runs four working terminals, and unlike Gatwick's quick shuttle hop, some of them are a genuine journey apart. Get it wrong and you could be looking at a 60–90 minute transfer on a morning you don't have to spare. Here's how the terminals break down and how to make sure you're headed to the right one.

The four terminals at Heathrow

There used to be a Terminal 1 — it closed permanently in 2015 and was demolished, so ignore any older guide or map that mentions it. Today Heathrow operates T2, T3, T4, and T5, and each one is effectively its own building with its own approach road.

• Terminal 2 (the Queen's Terminal): Heathrow's Star Alliance hub — carriers like United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, Austrian, Turkish, and around twenty other alliance members, plus Air India
• Terminal 3: oneworld and independent long-haul carriers — American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic, and Delta
• Terminal 4: the SkyTeam hub plus a cluster of Gulf and Asian carriers — Air France, KLM, Korean Air, Qatar Airways, Etihad, and Malaysia Airlines among others
• Terminal 5: British Airways, almost exclusively, plus Iberia on selected routes

How to find out which terminal you're using

• Check your booking confirmation email — the terminal is almost always listed
• Check your boarding pass once issued — it states the terminal clearly
• Use the "which terminal" lookup on the Heathrow website with your flight number
• Check directly with your airline if anything looks inconsistent

Why getting it wrong costs more time than at Gatwick

T2 and T3 sit next to each other in the Central Terminal Area and are linked by a covered walkway — about a 10-minute walk. T4 and T5, however, are not within walking distance of the central terminals or of each other. Moving between them means the free inter-terminal transport (Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth line, or the free coach), and Heathrow's own guidance is to allow 60–90 minutes for that transfer, more if you're moving between T4 and T5 specifically. On a morning with a flight to catch, that's not a gap you want to be closing at a run.

Is there a charge for being dropped off at the terminal?

Yes — since January 2026, Heathrow charges £7 per vehicle for forecourt drop-offs, and that applies to private hire taxis as well as private cars. It's easy to be caught out by this if you're not expecting it. With Hawkhurst Taxis it's already folded into your fixed price, so there's nothing extra to pay at the barrier.

How we handle this at Hawkhurst Taxis

When you book your Heathrow taxi with us, we confirm your terminal at the time of booking and your driver goes straight to the correct forecourt — no guessing, no circling the central terminal area looking for signage. If your terminal changes after booking (it does happen, occasionally, for individual flights), just let us know and we'll update the route.