All direct flights from London Heathrow

Flight Summary

London Heathrow serves more international passengers than any other airport in the world. Although it has been overtaken in terms of the diversity of routes it offers by Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt International, Heathrow's ability to offer really high frequencies to the destinations that really matter – especially New York – keeps the London hub at the top of the tree.

Heathrow also has the advantage of not being dominated by British Airways in the way that say Paris Charles de Gaulle is monopolised by Air France, thus resulting in a healthy dose of competition on most routes.

The huge pressure for slots at Europe's busiest airport means that Heathrow is only served by a relatively small network of domestic flights. These same slot restrictions have also resulted in it being very rare for new routes to Ireland to be launched.

Heathrow has good links with most of the major European capital cities, as well as a number of regional cities, especially in France, Italy or Germany. However, Stansted has long since overtaken Heathrow in terms of the range of European destinations available, although you can at least rest assured that whichever airline you choose to fly with, all flights from Heathrow will take you to the "proper airport" (Frankfurt International for example), and not a remote field in the middle of nowhere (like Frankfurt Hahn) as favoured by some no-frills airlines.

Heathrow's trump card is its long-haul portfolio. Just about every corner of the globe is covered, with airlines willing to pay three or four times what they would at Gatwick in order to secure the prestige that flying into Heathrow offers. Over the past decade the relaxation of restrictions on flights between the UK and India has seen new routes across the Subcontinent, whereas the ever expanding Chinese economy has seen more competition develop on flights from Heathrow to Shanghai and Beijing. The low-cost airlines might have taken away some of the appetite for short-haul flights from Heathrow, but there are still numerous airlines that would love to get in on the act, if only the space was available for them.