Heathrow has announced that The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will be officially opening Terminal 2 on June 23. The old Terminal 2, opened by The Queen in 1955, was demolished after 54 years of service. It was Heathrow's first terminal, originally called the 'Europa Building' and was designed to deal with 1.2 million passengers a year. By the time it closed in 2009 it was handling 8 million passengers a year. The new Terminal 2 is part of the Heathrow’s on-going transformation and is a £2.5 billion development by luis vidal + architects which has taken five years to complete. Terminal 2 will be a new international gateway for the UK, a home to 23 Star Alliance airlines as well as Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings carriers. Heathrow’s Development Director, John Holland-Kaye commented, “We are proud that Her Majesty The Queen has agreed to officially open Terminal 2 : The Queen's Terminal, the latest stage in Heathrow’s £11billion transformation. The new Terminal 2 stands on the site of the previous Queen’s Building, and the official opening on 23 June recognises the long association with Her Majesty The Queen.” (source: www.heathrowairport.com/)