British Airways has said farewell to Terminal 1 at London Heathrow Airport, consolidating its flights into two terminals from today.

Heathrow Airport closed the doors on Terminal 1 yesterday for the last time after almost 47 years of service.

The last flight to depart Terminal 1 was the BA970 to Hanover at 21:15, while the last arrival was the BA144 from Baku at 22:40.

Captain Paul Imhoff, who is in charge of BA970 to Hanover, said: “I was inspired to become a pilot by family trips down to Heathrow Terminal 1, so it is a really nice honour and symmetry that I can lead the team on the last ever flight to depart from the terminal.”

From today all British Airways flights will operate from either its flagship home of Terminal 5 or nearby Terminal 3.

Ian Howick, director of Heathrow for British Airways, said: “It is great news that we can once again look forward to having flights from just two Heathrow terminals and offer our connecting customers a quicker and simpler journey.

“We are continuing to modernise Terminal 3 with a new departures area under construction, which will include a new premium zone.

“We are also using Heathrow’s new integrated baggage system which connects Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 together for the first time.

“With bags now able to travel between the two terminals at speeds of up to 30mph, we can offer an even better service for customers changing terminals as they connect through Heathrow.

“Being based in two terminals rather than three also means we can now use our fleet of short-haul aircraft in a more efficient way and improve the schedules we can offer our customers.”

British Airways currently operates approximately 700 flights a day at Heathrow and carries more than 110,000 customers to and from the airport on busy days.

Once the moves are complete Terminal 5 will be home to 117 destinations and Terminal 3 will serve 21 British Airways destinations.