Journal

What we learn from watching terminals.

Notes on queues, gates, and the gap between what an airport advertises and what is actually happening in it.

  1. 2 min read

    Why Heathrow has no Terminal 1

    Heathrow runs Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5. There is no Terminal 1, and there has not been one since 2015. Here is what happened to it, and why the numbering was never tidied up.

  2. 2 min read

    How a security queue gets a number next to it

    Airportica does not measure security queues. Travellers standing in them do. Here is what happens between someone reporting a wait and that wait appearing on someone else’s screen.