JD Wetherspoon Opens New Airport Pub Following £3.5 million Investment

Pub operator JD Wetherspoon is to open its new pub in Heathrow today, Wednesday 26 August, with the creation of 100 new jobs.

The company has spent £3.5million developing the pub in Heathrow Terminal 2 (airside, after security).

This will be Wetherspoon’s 10th airport pub in UK and Spain, with further openings at Manchester Airport (September 2026) and Barcelona Airport (two separate pubs – due to open late 2026/early 2027).

The new Heathrow pub, which will be called The Sir Frank Whittle, will be managed by Tom Blacktop previously the pub manager at The Beehive (Gatwick Airport).

Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle (1907–96) was an English engineer, inventor and RAF officer.

Lacking Air Ministry support, he and two retired RAF servicemen formed Power Jets Ltd to build his engine design, with assistance from British Thomson-Houston. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine, with his designs changing global transport and military aviation for ever.

In 1948, he retired from the RAF and received a knighthood, ranking at 42 in the BBC’s 100 Greatest Britons poll.

The Sir Frank Whittle pub will be open from 4am until 11pm seven days a week.

Food will be served throughout the day, from opening until 10pm every day.

The new pub will specialise in real ales and traditional ciders, as well as craft and world beers, serving a wide range of different draught ales, as well as bottled beers, including those from local and regional brewers.

It will be open for family dining, with children, accompanied by an adult, welcome in the pub throughout the week.

The pub will be wheelchair accessible.

Historical photos and details of local history, as well as artwork and images of local scenes and characters of the area, are also displayed in the pub.

Pub manager Tom Blacktop said: “Myself and my team are looking forward to welcoming customers into The Sir Frank Whittle and we are confident that the pub will be a great addition to the choice on offer for customers travelling through Heathrow Airport.”

The company already runs The Crown Rivers (Heathrow T5) and Star Light (Heathrow T4), The Red Lion (Gatwick North), The Beehive (Gatwick South, landside) and Flying Horse (Gatwick South, airside), The Windmill (Stansted Airport), Wetherspoon (Birmingham Airport), The Sir Walter Scott (Edinburgh Airport) and Castell de Santa Bàrbara (Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport).