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Good news for airport pint enthusiasts: the UK's biggest airport is set to welcome a brand-new Wetherspoons.
Perfectly timed for the summer break, the £3.5million Sir Frank Whittle will open in Heathrow Terminal Two.
It will be located airside, after security, and open from 4am to 11pm seven days a week.
The pub is named after a former RAF officer who is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine.
On the menu will be Wetherspoons favourites from ciders and ales to a full English breakfast.
It comes ahead of plans to open a string of new airport pubs across Europe, according to Time Out.
The Belle Vue will open at Manchester Airport in September this year, while JD Wetherspoon will open two new pubs in Barcelona over the coming year.
The new pubs at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport will open in the airside areas of Terminal 1 this September and the second at Terminal 2 next January.
Wetherspoon said the venues will have a combined customer area of more than 5,700 square foot (530 square metres) for almost 600 people.
The pubs – open every day from 5am to 11pm – will be operated by Ibersol Group, one of the largest franchised brand operators in Spanish and Portuguese travel.
Food will be served up to an hour before closing, with the menu including real ale and food found in UK pubs, such as burgers and pizzas – as well as local dishes.
Until February this year, the Watford-based company had never previously opened a pub outside the UK and Ireland.
A firm staple of UK culture, the chain already operates 806 pubs nationwide.
The Windmill at Stansted is often considered one of the best airport pubs in the UK, while a string of other establishments rank highly.
It comes amid ongoing debate over the 'airport pint'.
Some have argued the national tradition can lead to rowdiness on planes, with Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary saying it is leading to diversions and disruptions on board.
Others, however, are firmly pro – Harriet Marsden wrote in the Daily Mail earlier this year: 'For me, that 6am pint or glass of fizz is the last remnant of the decadent glamour once the hallmark of air travel. It’s a symbol of an airport, that special space where the normal rules are suspended. Why should a few bad apples ruin it for the rest of us?'
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