London Heathrow departures today

The live board below shows today’s Heathrow departures, terminal by terminal: scheduled time, estimated time, airline, destination, terminal and current status for every flight leaving Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5. London Heathrow (LHR) is Britain’s busiest airport, with around 650 departures a day at the height of summer, so search the board by flight number or destination. Whether you are flying tonight, dropping someone off or checking whether a delay is real, today’s Heathrow flight departures are all on this one page, updated continuously until each aircraft is airborne.

Terminal 2: Star Alliance and Aer Lingus

Terminal 2, the Queen’s Terminal, is home to most Star Alliance airlines: Lufthansa, Swiss, United, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines and their partners, with Aer Lingus alongside. The terminal mixes short European hops with long-haul, so arrive 2 hours before a European flight and 3 hours before long-haul. Security moves briskly by Heathrow standards, but the early morning bank of European departures, roughly between 05:00 and 08:00, is when the queues are longest. Some long-haul flights board from the B gates, a covered walk of 10 minutes or more from security, so do not treat the gate as next door.

Terminal 3: Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and the transatlantic carriers

Terminal 3 belongs to the long-haul heavyweights: Virgin Atlantic, Delta, American Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Qantas all depart from here. It is the oldest terminal still in use and the walking distances are real, so the 3-hour advice for long-haul is not padding. Neither is it padding at security: the queue is at its longest mid-morning, when the transatlantic departures bank together, so a flight to New York or Los Angeles is exactly the one not to cut fine.

Terminal 4: SkyTeam and the Gulf

Terminal 4 hosts KLM, Air France and their SkyTeam partners, together with Qatar Airways, Etihad, Malaysia Airlines, Saudia and a long list of Middle Eastern and Asian carriers. It sits apart from the central terminal area, with its own railway station, and it is generally the calmest of the four to fly from. Its departure banks are concentrated though: when three Gulf widebodies board within the same hour, the security queue reflects it. Arrive 3 hours before a long-haul departure and you will have time to spare.

Terminal 5: British Airways

Terminal 5 is British Airways’ home, shared only with Iberia, and it is the largest building of the four. Security is split between the north and south ends and normally moves well, but the first wave of departures from around 06:00 fills both at once, so the 2-hour advice holds here even for a short flight. The detail that catches people out is the layout: besides the main A gates there are two satellite buildings, B and C, reached by an underground transit train. A flight boarding from a C gate is a genuine 15 to 20 minutes from security, and BA closes long-haul gates on time. So at Terminal 5, read the gate number on this board as part of the journey: A gates are close, B and C are not.

Reading the board: from Scheduled to Departed

The status column walks through a departure in order. Scheduled means the timetable still stands; Delayed means the estimated column is now the truth. Go to Gate and Boarding mean exactly what they say, Final Call means the gate is about to shut, Gate Closed means it has, and Departed means the aircraft has left. At Heathrow one status deserves a quicker reaction than elsewhere: Go to Gate at Terminal 5 can mean the transit ride to the B or C satellite still lies between you and the aircraft. And many LHR departures are assigned a gate only 30 to 60 minutes before the off, so an empty gate field early in the day is normal.

Once a flight shows Departed, enter its flight number in the live flight radar on our homepage and you will see the aircraft as a moving symbol, with route, altitude and speed all the way to its destination. On the dedicated Heathrow flight radar you can watch departures roll down the runway and climb out over west London, which settles the question “has it actually gone?” better than any status column. Meeting someone flying into Heathrow instead? The Heathrow arrivals board does the same job in the other direction.

Getting to Heathrow: Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express and the drop-off charge

By rail there are three options, in rising order of price. The Piccadilly line serves all terminals and costs the least, at roughly an hour from central London. The Elizabeth line serves Terminals 2 and 3, 4 and 5 directly and gets you from Paddington to the central terminal area in about 30 minutes for a fraction of the Express fare. The Heathrow Express remains the fastest: Paddington to Terminals 2 and 3 in 15 minutes, continuing to Terminal 5, with a free transfer for Terminal 4.

By car, here is the fact the signs tell you too late: stopping on the terminal forecourts incurs the £7 drop-off charge, registered by number-plate cameras and payable online or by phone by midnight the next day. There is no barrier and no warning, and forgetting to pay turns £7 into a penalty. The free alternative is dropping off at your terminal’s Park and Ride car park, formerly called Long Stay, with a free bus to the building; allow an extra 20 minutes for it.

Frequently asked questions

How early should I be at Heathrow for a long-haul flight?

3 hours before departure is Heathrow’s own advice, and it is sound. Long-haul bag drop commonly closes 60 minutes before departure, and at Terminal 5 a B or C gate adds a transit ride after security. 2 hours is enough for European flights outside the morning peak.

Which terminal does my airline use?

As a rule of thumb: British Airways at Terminal 5, Star Alliance at Terminal 2, Virgin Atlantic, Delta, American and Emirates at Terminal 3, and KLM, Air France, Qatar Airways and Etihad at Terminal 4. There are exceptions, including a minority of BA flights from Terminal 3, so trust your boarding pass and this board on the day. If you cannot find your airline at any Heathrow terminal, check the airport: easyJet, for example, flies from Gatwick and Luton, not from Heathrow; see our easyJet flight tracker.

Why did my gate change?

Heathrow reassigns stands all day as inbound aircraft run early or late, and many gates are only published 30 to 60 minutes before departure. A change is routine, not a fault; the board and your airline’s app carry the current gate, and at Terminal 5 a switch from an A to a B or C gate means leaving earlier.

Can I watch my flight after it has departed?

Yes: see the radar links above. Share the flight number with whoever is picking you up at the other end, and they can time the drive to the minute.