LHR
London, United Kingdom
Heathrow has four terminals (2, 3, 4 and 5). They are big and spread out, so if your next flight leaves from a different terminal you ride a free bus, and the walk to a gate can take up to 20 minutes. It is fairly easy to follow one colour (purple "Flight Connections" signs) all the way to security, but the gate number usually appears late, only after security, so people often feel lost at that point.
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Your bags go through. You only change planes.
On one booking, your suitcase is normally sent straight to your final airport, so you do not collect it at Heathrow. Heathrow says this is not possible on every flight, so ask your first airline before you fly. If you want help, tell your airline as soon as you book, and at least 48 hours before you travel (see the help section). Heathrow may still be able to help if you ask later, but it cannot promise this.
After you leave the plane, ignore the signs for Arrivals and Baggage. Follow only the purple signs that say "Flight Connections". If you cannot see a purple sign, ask a member of staff in a purple uniform.
The screens there tell you which TERMINAL your next flight leaves from. They do NOT show the gate number. Write down or remember the terminal number.
If your next flight is in the same terminal, keep following the purple signs on foot, or use the free train where there is one (Terminal 5 has a train to the B and C gates). If it is in another terminal, follow the purple signs to the free bus. Heathrow says the bus runs about every 10 minutes.
Everyone who boards a new flight at Heathrow goes through security, even if you were already checked at your first airport. Do what the staff tell you. Heathrow says liquids and large electrical items can usually stay in your cabin bag at this security, but the staff instructions come first. If you have no printed boarding pass for the next flight, connecting passengers can usually still go through with their travel details. If your next flight goes to another country, there is usually no passport control on this route. The exceptions are a flight inside the UK and a flight to the Republic of Ireland. For both, your face is photographed before security, and for a flight inside the UK you also go through UK passport control first. If your next flight is inside the UK or goes to Ireland, ask your airline which checks you will have.
After security you are in the departure lounge. Look at the big flight screens for your flight number. Your boarding pass may show a gate, but Heathrow says to check the screens because the gate can change. Walking to a gate can take up to 20 minutes, so start walking soon after the gate is shown.
The gate is normally shown on the departure screens closer to departure time, so this is common. Sit near a screen in the departure lounge and check again every few minutes. You can also ask a staff member in a purple uniform or go to your airline's desk, or use the Heathrow app for live gate updates. If you are not sure where your airline's desk is, ask any member of staff to point you to it. If your first flight lands late, tell a member of staff as soon as you land. Heathrow says staff will help you find the quickest way to your next gate. If you miss your next flight, go to your airline desk.
You collect your bags and check in again. Allow much more time.
Heathrow says that if you booked two separate flights you are not a connecting passenger. The airline's minimum connection time does not protect you, and the second airline has not promised to wait for you. You will do everything a new arrival does, then everything a new departure does.
After you leave the plane, follow the yellow signs towards Arrivals. You must go through UK passport control. This can take a while. People who are escorted by the assistance team use a separate lane. Before you fly, check the UK rules for your passport (see the passport control note).
Go to baggage reclaim and take your suitcase off the belt. If you booked assistance, your escort will help find and collect your bags. Then go through customs: green channel if you have nothing to declare, red channel if you do.
If your next flight leaves from a different terminal, you may need to use public transport. Heathrow has a "Travel between terminals" page and an app that show the options. Heathrow says all routes between terminals are step-free, with lifts, ramps and moving walkways. Ask a Heathrow Helper (purple uniform) or use a help point if you are unsure.
Go to the check-in desks or bag drop of your next airline in your departure terminal, show your passport and ticket, and hand over your suitcase.
Follow the signs for security. Expect queues. Staff will tell you what to take out of your bags.
Heathrow does not give a number. It says to allow plenty of extra time for passport control, collecting bags, changing terminals, check-in and security. For a flight that leaves from Heathrow, Heathrow advises being at the airport 3 hours before a long-haul flight and 2 hours before a short-haul flight. Add the time to land, pass UK passport control and collect your bags on top of that. One 2026 travel guide suggests 4 to 5 hours or more between separate tickets; that is its own advice, not a rule. If you travel alone or need help, leave much longer, or book one ticket instead. If you will need help, ask your airline for assistance at least 48 hours ahead; Heathrow says same-day requests cannot be guaranteed.
If you stay on ONE ticket to another country, Heathrow's pages describe only security, not passport control, and you stay inside the secure area. If your next flight is inside the UK, you go through UK passport control first, then security. If it goes to the Republic of Ireland, your face is also photographed before security; ask your airline whether any other check applies. If you are on SEPARATE tickets, you must go through UK passport control and collect your bags. Whether you need a UK visa depends on your passport. At the moment GOV.UK says you do not need an ETA (electronic travel authorisation) if you only change planes and do not go through UK passport control. The UK government says you need an ETA if you pass through border control at a UK airport before continuing your journey, and a person who goes through border control while changing flights (for example to deal with luggage) may need a Visitor in Transit visa unless they hold an ETA or certain other visas. Some passports also need a Direct Airside Transit visa even when you never leave the secure area. Check the rules for your passport on gov.uk ("Check if you need a UK visa") and ask your airline before you travel. On passport control itself, Heathrow says all gates are accessible, eligible people can use eGates, and anyone being escorted by the assistance team uses a dedicated lane.
Heathrow has four terminals: 2, 3, 4 and 5 (Terminal 1 closed in 2015). Heathrow says that if your next flight is in a different terminal, you take a free shuttle bus that runs about every 10 minutes; if it is in the same terminal, you walk or take the free train. Terminal 5 has a train that serves the B and C gates. Heathrow says walking to a gate can take up to 20 minutes, though moving walkways (travellators) help, and its airport maps show the real-time distance to your gate. The distances are long for someone who tires easily. Heathrow does not publish how long the bus between terminals takes, so allow extra time. If you are on one ticket and need to change terminals, follow the purple Flight Connections signs and they will lead you to the free bus. If you have booked assistance, the team uses a buggy or wheelchair on foot routes and a fully accessible transfer bus between terminals, and you can ask to stop at a toilet or shop on the way to the gate. Wheelchairs and heavy bags must use lifts, not escalators. Self-serve wheelchairs in the terminals are only for passengers who are NOT travelling alone, so a person travelling alone should book assistance instead.
Tell your airline (or the tour operator or travel agent who sold the ticket) what help you need, at least 48 hours before you travel; you can often do this when you book. Heathrow says the airline then passes the details to the airport assistance team, and same-day requests cannot be guaranteed. For British Airways, log in to Manage My Booking after you book and choose "Request assistance", at least 48 hours before the flight. If you cannot find it, ask your airline how to request assistance. If you have two airlines, ask BOTH, and say you are travelling alone and changing planes at Heathrow.
If you booked help: airline staff help you off the plane, and a member of the Heathrow assistance team meets you and takes you onward by buggy or wheelchair, to your next terminal on an accessible bus if needed. If you are on your own and nobody has met you, go to an Assistance area or press a help point button. Assistance areas before security: Terminal 2, Level 5 behind check-in zones A and B; Terminal 3, Level 1 above check-in zones A and B; Terminal 4, Check-In Zone B next to Excess Baggage; Terminal 5, Check-In Zone E. Assistance areas after security: Terminal 2, next to the children's play area and the entrance to the B gates; Terminal 3, the extra seating area behind World Duty Free; Terminal 4, near Gate 7; Terminal 5, opposite Gate A4 (A gates), near Gate B35 (B gates), near Gate C53 (C gates). In the arrivals halls: Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, opposite international arrivals; Terminal 4, opposite international arrivals on the way to the Underground; Terminal 5, by the orange lifts. Heathrow helpline: Terminals 2, 3 and 4 +44 (0)20 8757 2700, open 05:00 to 23:00. Terminal 5 +44 (0)20 8283 6415 (Heathrow does not publish opening hours for this number). Outside 05:00 to 23:00, use a help point inside the airport.
Free at Heathrow: sunflower lanyards (a sign that you may need extra help) at the Assistance desks in every terminal, loan of a RADAR key for accessible toilets from an Assistance area, and a free on-demand British Sign Language video service (Convo). The assistance team can also help you through security (everyone goes through the scanner, including wheelchair users; if you cannot walk through, security staff can search you while you stay in your chair; you can ask for a private search). You will usually be asked to board first. If you use your own wheelchair, tell the airline its make, model, size and weight and the battery type. Heathrow calls its assistance service free. When you ask your airline for help, check that there is nothing to pay for it.
Help points (a push button or phone) are placed throughout the airport. If you cannot find one, call the helpline: +44 (0)20 8757 2700 for Terminals 2, 3 and 4 (open 05:00 to 23:00), or +44 (0)20 8283 6415 for Terminal 5 (Heathrow does not publish opening hours for this number). Outside 05:00 to 23:00, use a help point inside the airport. Say where you are and what you need, and they will guide you or send someone to meet you. Staff in purple uniform (Heathrow Helpers) can point you in the right direction. Assistance areas (locations in the assistance section) are before and after security and in the arrivals halls. To find your airline's desk, ask any member of staff to point you to it. Heathrow's Flight Connections page also says staff in the connections area can help if your first flight is late. Heathrow's own pages also mention information desks, but we did not find their exact locations. We did not find any official statement that Persian, Arabic or Turkish is spoken by staff; Heathrow's website is offered in English, Italian, French, German, Swedish, Chinese, Spanish and Hindi, and the free sign-language video service is for British Sign Language. For a language you do not speak, show the phrases on this page, or ask your airline to note your language need when you request assistance. The Heathrow app shows a personalised connection route, maps, and live flight and gate updates.
Each terminal has reserved seating areas, marked with signs, with low-level flight screens, armrests on both sides, hearing loops, and room for wheelchairs. There are toilets, showers and water fountains in the terminals, before and after security. Accessible toilets are throughout the airport. Changing Places toilets (large accessible rooms, you need a RADAR key from an Assistance area) are after security at Terminal 3 opposite Gate 7, Terminal 4 by Gate 11A, and Terminal 5 by Gate 21. For quiet, every terminal has a multi-faith prayer room that Heathrow says is open to everyone. Heathrow's St George's Chapel is not a place to rest: it is underground, down a spiral staircase with no step-free access, and only open at service times. Heathrow also gives out free sensory packs and sunflower lanyards at the assistance desks before security. Lounges (paid, or free with some tickets) have seats, food and sometimes showers. There is nowhere to sleep in the terminals, but Heathrow has hotels close by. If you feel unwell, tell the nearest member of staff straight away or press a help point button. In a life-threatening emergency, call 999. If you are a vulnerable person in real distress, Heathrow Travel Care (a social work team in Terminal 3, Monday to Friday, +44 (0)20 8745 7495) exists, but it is not a normal help desk.
Show this to a member of staff if you cannot say it. In English
I need help to find my connecting flight. (Say it like: eye NEED help too FIND my kuh-NEK-ting flite.)
I need help to find my connecting flight.
Where is the transfer desk? (Say it like: wair iz the TRANS-fer desk?) At Heathrow the purple signs say "Flight Connections", so you can also ask: Where is Flight Connections? (wair iz flite kuh-NEK-shuns?)
Where is the transfer desk?
I need a wheelchair, please. (Say it like: eye NEED uh WEEL-chair, PLEEZ.)
I need a wheelchair, please.
Print this page, fill in the lines by hand, and keep the card in your pocket.
I am traveling alone. I need help to find my connecting flight. Please show me the way, or call someone who can help me. Thank you.
I need help to find my connecting flight. (Say it like: eye NEED help too FIND my kuh-NEK-ting flite.)
You can type the details here before printing. They stay on this device only.
Partly checked against official pages.
Airports change signs, gates and rules. This guide is general help, not an official instruction. Always follow the staff and the screens, and check with your airline.
Last prepared 2 November 2026.