Heathrow Terminal 2 is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with an indulgent nod to the ‘no rules at the airport’ TikTok trend, which has racked up over six million views in the last six months, by handing out hundreds of cakes… for breakfast.
The delicious birthday treats will be shared from 10am on Tuesday 4th June to mark the milestone and get Terminal 2 passengers on ‘airport time’ – the anything goes mindset 55% of travellers experience when they’ve cleared security and are waiting for their flight to depart. A feeling that new research has found over half of Brits (52%) only otherwise experience on their birthdays.
The study of 2,000 UK adults found that nearly half consider tucking into whatever food and drink they want at whatever time of day their favourite thing about being at the airport (49%). Notably this was also the favourite thing about birthdays for 61% of respondents.
Amongst the ‘airport time’ treats Brits like to indulge in are:
Eating cake for breakfast (22%)
Treating themselves to an impulse ‘airport present’ (37%)
Taking a nap in the middle of the day (29%)
A morning tipple (62%)
Shopping before breakfast (33%)
Eating ice cream late at night or first thing in the morning (15%)
More than 148 million passengers have passed through Terminal 2’s doors, and over 1 million planes have landed and departed, since it opened on 4th June 2014. Highlighting the appetite for airport time, the terminal has revealed that its passengers:
Fly through 8,920 cakes for breakfast every single day;
Love a caffeine fix; Caffè Nero alone has sold the equivalent of 44 swimming pools of coffee over the past decade;
Have global tastes: spend on global cuisine has doubled between 2019 and 2023;
But are still fans of a classic: the full English and a burger & chips are amongst the most popular meals for hungry passengers.
Paul Ford, Terminal Services Manager for Heathrow Terminal 2, said: “To learn that Heathrow passengers enjoy relaxing and indulging as if they are celebrating a birthday when at the airport goes to show that holidays really do start here! We are extremely proud of every member of Team Heathrow who has contributed towards providing excellent service to almost 148 million passengers who have travelled through Terminal 2 over the last decade, and we can’t wait to see what the next ten years have in store.”
To join in the celebrations, passengers travelling through Heathrow Terminal 2 during the morning of Tuesday 4th June will be offered cake by volunteers from Heathrow’s Services Team from 10am.
ENDS
About Heathrow Terminal 2
The current Terminal 2 building was opened on 4th June 2014, by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was built where the previous Terminal 2 stood between 1955 and 2009, which was also opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Plaques commemorating the openings of both iterations of ‘’The Queen’s Terminal’ remain on display to passengers.
Over the past decade, Terminal 2 has hosted 148 million passengers and processed more than 50 million bags through its baggage system - with over 1 million planes having departed and landed since its opening. There are almost 1,000 conveyor belts in Terminal 2, totalling a combined length of 4km – the same length as Heathrow’s runway.
About Heathrow
Heathrow is the UK’s international gateway and the largest airport in Europe – connecting to 239 destinations in 89 countries. The airport welcomes over 200,000 passengers on roughly 1,300 flights each day, and serves as a Britain’s hub for trade, tourism and investment. Approximately 75,000 colleagues work at Heathrow – the airport directly employs about 10% of them, with the rest working for Team Heathrow partners including airlines, ground handlers and retailers.
Notes to editors
The study was conducted by 3Gem – 2,000 Brits aged 18-65 took part in the survey between 24th-29th May
The calculation for cakes consumed at Terminal 2 is as follows: 22% of respondents have eaten cake for breakfast at the airport. 22% of T2’s avg. 40,547 passengers per day is 8,920. (40,547 passengers per day calculated by dividing 148 million over past 10 years into days)
The calculation for the amount of coffee consumed at Caffè Nero over the last decade is as follows: Caffè Nero in Terminal 2 has sold ~6.5 million cups of coffee over the past decade. A medium coffee is 340 ml. 340ml x 6.5 million = 2.2 million litres (British Menu Prices) A typical backyard swimming pool holds about 50,000 litres. So, 2,210,000 litres is equivalent to 44 backyard swimming pools.
