Airports

Airports

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Find out about the systems and logistics behind our largest airports.

In this government-sponsored film, we find out how Britain's airports function, with an overview spanning everything from security to the flow of air traffic. Before the arrival of the 5th terminal at Heathrow, the capacity of the airport was stretched, and much of this film looks to the future, assessing the current constraints on the expansion and capacity of the airport and its future and at Heathrow's untapped potential.

The extent of the business practices of BAA plc (a company formed from the Thatcher government's privatisation of the British Airports Authority) are chronicled, from the large role in coordination of the on-ground staff to the extent of the commercial operation.

On the complex technical processes which intermesh to keep the daily movement
of 120,000 people through Heathrow Airport flowing. Looks at flight check-in,
baggage handling, customs, immigration and air traffic control.


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How We Travelled

How British experiences of travel and transport have changed over the years, taking us further and (sometimes) faster than ever before.
It's often said that, since the end of the last century, life has been speeding up. It's not just that - as individuals and as a society - we're always on the go. We're travelling more, and further, too. Where decades earlier we might have lived, worked and shopped locally, social change and developments in local and national transport links have opened up our access to every part of the UK and beyond. More of us enjoy foreign holidays, or work overseas. Television and video have documented the consequences of shifting economic and political changes on the transport industry. It has witnessed technological developments from electrification of the railways to CCTV to smart motorways. Information technology governs how we buy our tickets, plan our journeys and keep our roads safe. Better connections to the rest of the world have transformed the way we travel, the goods in our shops and the people we live with. The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 brought Europe closer than ever. All this travel comes has its costs - not least a heavy environmental impact that we're only beginning to get to grips with. Perhaps it's time we learned to travel a little less? So, for now, why not sit back, relax and take a virtual journey through the decades.

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