Keeping Up To Date
In 2016, I published 'Heathrow Airport An Illustrated History', to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UK's only hub airport. A paperback, the book was generally well-received despite the 250 photographs being in black-and-white (it should be noted that publishing books does have limitations; printing the illustrations in colour would have been nice but also somewhat expensive, putting the retail price rather high).
Nevertheless, time always marches on and in commercial aviation, noticeably so. Since 2016, a number of aspects have changed, not least with progress regarding the airport's new runway. The types of aircraft seen most frequently have changed also; the Boeing 747, dubbed the 'Queen of the Skies' by many, no longer rules the airways. Yet despite its use at Heathrow, the Airbus A380 has not inherited the mantle held by the Boeing jet. Today, it is another US-built aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that has now become the most oft-seen passenger carrying airliner at the west London hub - or at least the type used by more and more airlines in ever-growing numbers on their services to the airport.
Three years on it is indeed time (like the aircraft portrayed, and indeed, the airport itself) for an upgrade.
Available now is the second edition, Heathrow Airport 70 Years and Counting, this time without the photographs (bar a centre insert of six pages) and more reliant on the text. Better edited than the earlier book, this one brings the Heathrow story right up to the present day and has been substantially re-written and revised in many areas. The book also has three entirely new chapters, is introduced by the airport's Director of Communications and is a hardback, not a paperback.
Obviously I'm biased but the second edition is far superior in every way to the first, even without the plethora of photographs - but then, it does not purport to be illustrated, hence the subtle change to the sub-title. Those who have a copy of the first edition may well be satisfied with that but there is plenty of precedent for book readers to acquire later editions of the same title - indeed, I have a few myself but then I am something of a book person. Those interested not only in aviation and airports but also social history, transport and infrastructure generally, and who did not get a copy of the first edition, will find Heathrow Airport 70 Years and Counting of interest...if only for the revealing of the political games played around airports and air transport.
Heathrow Airport 70 Years and Counting can be ordered here:
￡19.99, 260 pages, hardback.
Reviews:
The heart and soul of the world's most iconic airport
(Andy Martin, former editor, Airports of the World magazine)
Eloquent writing and full of interesting facts
(Marnix Groot, Editor, AirportHistory.org)
This is a well-written and interesting account of Heathrow’s history – the most interesting airport in Britain. It’s good to know where it came from and what happened there, and to reflect on what goes on behind the scenes, and where it might be going in the future.
(Matt Falcus, The Airport Spotting Blog - https://www.airportspotting.com/)