Opened in 1953, BEA's Waterloo Air Terminal was essentially a check-in facility offering bus transport to Northolt or Heathrow, but helicopters had first landed here on the former Festival of Britain grounds in 1952 and BEA Whirlwinds linked Waterloo to Heathrow for ten months from July 1955. Sabena only undertook a single flight from Brussels in July 1954. Flying time from Brussels was no less than two hours and 48 minutes.