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ABANDONED departure lounges, retro seats and darkened corridors are captured in eerie photos of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 1.

Dated luggage carousels and nostalgic signage also feature in the blast-from-the-past snaps inside the mothballed building.

The first flight from T1 was BE352, a 100-seater Vanguard service to Edinburgh run by British European Airways, a forerunner of British Airways
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Terminal 1 was opened by The Queen in 1969Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
This luggage carousel in the baggage reclaim hall has sat unused for almost a year
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Darkened halls containing luggage carousels were captured in eerie pictures in 2017Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
A travelator stands empty on what used to be a busy walkway to the terminal's boarding gates
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Terminal 1 saw its last flight leave the tarmac in 2015Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
Heathrow Terminal 1, which was opened by the Queen in 1969, now lies empty
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As plane technology saw aircraft soar in size, the airport struggled to adaptCredit: North Downs Picture Agency

Opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1969 to a global fanfare, T1's first flight saw British European Airways - BAs foreunner - send a 100-seater Vanguard service to Edinburgh.

The terminus went on to usher in a golden age of jet travel.

Seen as the gateway to the UK for millions of holidaymakers, celebs and politicians, T1 became the envy of the world.

Showcasing huge advances in airport engineering and boasting vast passenger capacity, it was a front runner in global aviation.

Read More on Heathrow

But as aircraft soared in size, the airport struggled to adapt.

In 2005, in a bid to keep up with the pace of international travel, Heathrow installed a bigger departure lounge, additional retail space and seating.

But it proved unable to cope and after just 46 years, Terminal 1 was shut in 2015 as part of Heathrow’s expansion plans.

By the time the last flight to Hanover took off on June 29, 2015, T1 was only handling twenty daily flights to nine destinations through BA.

In the years that followed the closure, Heathrow management decided it would be slowly demolished over a five to ten-year period.

In 2017, the terminal's contents - included vintage WH Smith signage, retro chairs and even slot machines - were rounded up and sold at auction.

It left the building devoid of any life.

At the time, The Sun spoke to Steven Mearns, Heathrow’s Head of Engineering for T1.

He said what was left of the once thronging nerve centre of world travel made for an "eerie" experience.

Steve said: "T1 is iconic but Heathrow has grown and the airport needs to expand.

“It has a unique place in passenger aviation and it is a bit eerie to walk around it now when there is no-one around.

He told how the halls, once full of passengers and staff, now sit empty with"barely a sound".

“We don’t even have air conditioning," he added.

Read More on The Sun

Since then, the terminal has been used by armed cops to carry out live drills for terror attacks.

Today, the main building still stands but it's contact piers and other structures have been demolished.

Steven Mearns is Heathrow’s Head of Engineering for T1 and has been tasked with the recalibrating the airport’s history
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Steven Mearns, Heathrow’s Head of Engineering for T1, told The Sun the terminal was an 'eerie' placeCredit: North Downs Picture Agency
Technology has outstripped T1’s use and it will gradually be demolished over the next five to ten years
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Bag drop desks lie empty and the halls silent in these creepy pictures from inside Terminal 1Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
The pioneering airport building now lies ghostly silent after it was closed last year
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The once thronging nerve centre of world travel is now emptyCredit: North Downs Picture Agency
Decommissioning teams strip it bare and sell off anything from baggage conveyer belts and flight monitors to fire extinguishers and toilet bowls
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Old toilets and sinks were rounded up and flogged at auction when T1 closed in 2015Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
Regimented rows of disused seats and slot machines line the once thronging departure hall
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Slot machines were among items sold when the terminus shut its doorsCredit: North Downs Picture Agency
Terminal 1 opened with a global fanfare in the sixties, but it has been mothballed for Heathrow’s expansion plans
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Old car rental kiosks lie empty in the abandoned Terminal 1Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
The last from the terminal was a BA flight to Hanover on June 29 last year
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Check in desks were abandoned and signage flogged at auctionCredit: North Downs Picture Agency
Signs for customs, the VAT desk and hand luggage restrcitions still line the airport
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The terminal was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1969Credit: North Downs Picture Agency
Often the silence is only punctuated by security guards’ footsteps as they patrol the huge halls
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The empty departure lounge of Terminal 1 is a haunting placeCredit: North Downs Picture Agency
State-of-the-art electronic passport scanners still line the UK border gates at the terminal
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Old border gates sat silent when the airport closedCredit: North Downs Picture Agency
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