Heathrow’s new Terminal 2 was opened officially by the Queen yesterday and named The Queen’s Terminal.
The £2.5 billion facility opened to the public on June 4 when US carrier United began operating from the terminal.
Fellow Star Alliance members Air Canada, Air China and Japanese carrier ANA moved in on June 18 and the remaining Star Alliance carriers will move in between now and November.
The terminal will also be home to Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic’s Little Red and Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings at Heathrow.
Star Alliance chief executive Mark Schwab said: “It’s terrific to see this new terminal coming to life as our Heathrow home after so many years of planning and construction.
“We are honoured Her Majesty the Queen has lent her name to this fantastic new facility.”
Heathrow development director John Holland-Kaye said: “Today is a celebration of the great work by many people and many organisations to create a new front door for the UK.”
Holland-Kaye added: “The completion of the new Queen’s Terminal is the culmination of an £11 billion private investment programme that delivers a world class hub airport the UK can be proud of.”
The new T2 is built on the site of the old Terminal 2 building which was opened by the Queen in 1955.
The original Terminal 2 was Heathrow’s first passenger terminal and a state-of-the-art facility when it opened.
Designed to handle one million passengers a year, it was handling eight million by the time it closed in 2009.
The new T2 will replace Terminal 1 as well as the old Terminal 2, with the former due to close in 2016.