The London 2012 Olympic Games drew to a close yesterday with a star-studded, action-packed closing ceremony.
Now the party is over and it’s time to head home. As many as 6,000 athletes, as well as scores of holidaymakers and business travellers are expected to do just that today.
A whopping 116,000 people are set to board flights from Heathrow today, making it the busiest day the airport has ever seen.
A temporary terminal has been put in place for the departing Olympians and although details of how the athletes will make their way through the terminal are being kept under wraps, reports suggest that they will have their departure from London facilitated by a volunteer guard of honour.
It is estimated that around £20 million has been spent on facilities for Olympics visitors at the airport, and Heathrow has handled 80 per cent of arrivals to the UK for the 2012 Games.
Despite earlier fears that a threatened strike by border control staff and immigration queuing times could wreak havoc for visitors to London, BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said that he was proud of the part that Heathrow played in the Olympics.
“Heathrow is proud of the part we have played in making London 2012 a success. We hope that Olympic athletes, spectators and officials enjoyed a great welcome to London,” he said.
“Olympic departures present a fresh challenge with new facilities like the Games terminal being used for the first time. We have been preparing for seven years to deliver a farewell of which the whole country can be proud.”
Gatwick is also set to experience a similar surge in passenger numbers tomorrow, which is expected to be 15 per cent higher than that recorded on a normal weekday in August.
The end of the Olympics is also likely to prompt a surge in holiday bookings, according to one tour operator and holiday rental accommodation specialist.
“The end of July and beginning of August were relatively quiet but suddenly we have seen this massive upswing in booking and enquiries,” said Laurence Hicks, director of CLC Leisure.
“We knew that there would be a late booking trend this year because people wanted to be part of a once in a lifetime experience of London 2012 but the sudden rush has exceeded all expectations.”
(Images: Warren Rohner, Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
