Heathrow Airport's busiest day is said to be coming this summer. The airport is building a temporary terminal to accommodate more than 10,000 athletes on August 13.
Which is the day after the closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Games.
Heathrow is the world's busiest airport and with 80% of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, coaches, media and visitors expected to use Heathrow during the games, the temporary terminal to be used just for departures.
London has had a relatively smooth seven years of planning and building venues. The one big worry for organizers and the city is transport. There are plans to limit car traffic, while creating special Olympics-only traffic lanes. Officials have also asked companies to find ways to keep some employees out of central London and off the busy transport networks during July and August.
In recent years, Heathrow has suffered from a major baggage handling problem, volcanic eruptions, snow disruptions and strikes.
Heathrow will allow athletes to check their luggage at the Olympic Village east of the city. Heathrow will screen and check the bags as normal, but offsite as they are expecting an increase in baggage by as much as 35%.
The airport expects nearly 50% more passengers arriving on July 26, the day before the opening ceremony. That includes 390 athletes bringing in 780 firearms.
The city of London, is already a very congested city, and even charges higher tolls on the roads during peak usage to try to deter additional cars from coming into the city. If you do have summer travel plans to London, you should be prepared for lengthy waits to board the subways and prepare for additional crowds at all the major tourist sites.
It is not uncommon to have waits as long as three hours, to get through the security lines at London's airports. This summer will certainly test their capacity limits.
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