OU on the BBC: Airport Live

Airport Live is a live series revealing the untold story of how Heathrow Airport is run. It is one of BBC2’s most ambitious live broadcasts and a co-production with the Open University. It was on BBC Two between 17 and 20 June 2013.

It was presented by Dan Snow, Dallas Campbell, Anita Rani and Kate Humble who went airside at Heathrow, the world’s busiest international hub airport.

More than 200,000 passengers travel through Heathrow each day. Everything and everyone is on a deadline. In the words of Prof. Simon Bell, who acted as the series academic adviser, Heathrow is one of 'terminal cities', with a population of 270 thousand people, consisting of passengers and staff.

The presenters and their audience had unprecedented behind the scenes access allowing them to see this daily relay race first hand.

We could watch air traffic control in action and witness the extraordinary science and logistics behind every flight.

This four part series was commissioned by the Open Media Unit at the Open University to support the MCT Faculty’s PG Technology Management, PG Environmental Management and UG Environmental Management and Technologies programme areas,

If you are interested in the concept of airports as cities, you can watch Simon Bell's video entitled "Terminal Cities" on OU OpenLearn website.

For more information about the programmes, visit the BBC's Airport Live pages

Posted 25 June 2013