(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) London's Heathrow Airport wants business as usual during the forthcoming Summer Olympic Games for athletes and other passengers as it will be a unique operational task and a massive challenge, according to a top executive of the airport operator.
London is hosting the 30th Olympiad, which is scheduled to take place from July 27 to August 12. The city will be hosting the Games this year for the third time after having done so in 1908 and 1948.
This year's Olympics will make London the first city to have hosted the modern Games of three Olympiads. London is the only city in the United Kingdom to have ever hosted the Olympics; the United States is the only country to have hosted the Summer Olympics on more occasions than the UK.
London is not building a new airport for the Games like Beijing did for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It would welcome all athletes, their families, officials and other passengers at the existing airport.
"It's going to be a huge challenge and for Heathrow we are in a very different situation. If you look at host cities, Beijing built a whole new airport. I think we are the first Olympics since Barcelona that has not built new airport or terminal, but we have spent a long time preparing, learning and understanding what other airports of the games done," BAA Airports director of media relations Simon Baugh told Khaleej Times during his recent visit to Dubai.
BAA is one of the largest transport operators in the world, owning airports in London, Scotland and southern England. The company reported a 108 million passenger traffic at its six airports in the UK in 2011, with Heathrow topping having handled 69.5 million passengers.
Heathrow is already working at 99.3 per cent of the capacity, Baugh said, adding: "So we are not going to have a lot more passengers because we are already full. We cannot have any more flight in fact we are going to have slightly less flights during the Olympics to make sure the best punctuality."
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