The programme was hosted from the air traffic control tower by Kate Humble, where controllers handle some 1,400 landings and departures every day.
A live, shorthaul turnaround by British Airways was followed as the ground handlers prepared an aircraft arriving from Hamburg to depart for Paris within 50 minutes.
A visit to the NATS team at Swanick showed how the UK's 'motorways in the sky' are managed safely and efficiently. Dan Snow then revealed how wake turbulence affects the order in which aircraft of different size can depart and arrive from the airport.
Glenn Palmer, an Aircraft Marshaller who has worked at Heathrow for over 25 years, taught Dallas Campbell how to hand-marshal an aircraft. The pair then practised on one of Heathrow's airfield vehicles before carefully guiding a Bulgaria Air flight onto stand at Terminal 4. Simon Newbold, Airside Safety Manager then gave viewers an insight into the finer points of aircraft idenification.
Overnight a busy runway resurfacing team worked quickly to maintain the runway before a final clean, inspection and hand over back to air traffic control for normal operation. In the terminals, teams worked to clean and maintain the faciliity before the first passengers arrived to check-in for early morning flights.
View Airport live on BBC iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p018t3xg
