Heathrow Turns 80 with Star Alliance Round-the-World Ticket Draw

Heathrow Airport is marking the 80th anniversary of its first official passenger flight, which departed on May 31, 1946, with a partnership prize draw alongside Star Alliance and Heathrow Rewards offering two business class Round the World tickets.

The draw is open to UK residents from June 3 to 22, 2026. To enter, participants must register for a free My Heathrow account and submit their entry at heathrow.com/star. The winner will be able to design a personalised itinerary using participating Star Alliance member airlines, beginning and ending at Heathrow.

Star Alliance and Heathrow have maintained a close partnership for over a decade, with 23 of the alliance's 26 member airlines operating from Terminal 2 since 2014. Together, they serve over 14 million passengers annually, operate more than 1,500 weekly flights to 40 destinations across 20 countries, and account for over 17 percent of Heathrow's available seat capacity.

The milestone offers a striking contrast in scale: Heathrow welcomed just 63,000 passengers in its first year of operation and now handles 84.5 million travelers annually, connecting the UK to more than 230 destinations across over 80 countries.

The prize draw forms part of Heathrow's broader 80th anniversary celebrations, highlighting the airport's evolution from a modest postwar airfield into one of the world's busiest international hubs.