'Bidders were after nostalgia at any price': What it was like to go to the Heathrow Terminal 1 auction

The last time Heathrow Terminal 1 caught the world’s attention was in October 2014. Staff were counting the days until the airport’s bruised and battered facility closed in June 2015.

At the time, there was intense concern about the spread of Ebola from West Africa.

The UK government initially concluded there was no significant chance of identifying any sufferer who was not picked up by the pre-flight screening in West Africa. But the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, eventually bowed to pressure to “do something” and installed a medical checkpoint in the Terminal 1 arrivals area for screening passengers arriving from Brussels – a key hub for Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The checkpoint was in business for exactly one day. After that Brussels Airlines arrivals moved to Terminal 2. I imagine the checkpoint ended up in a skip. A shame, because if it had been left in situ it would have been worth hundreds or thousands of pounds.

I can be fairly certain of that because last weekend I witnessed the first auction of airport memorabilia.

Whatever was nailed down in Terminal 1 was prised off and taken to a hotel beside the northern runway, for what turned out to be a six-hour sale.

I had my eye on one of those familiar black-on-yellow illuminated signs, which made up close to half the lots.

I arrived intent on snapping up a bargain, but it was clear that rival bidders were after nostalgia at any price.

The Irish Arrivals Passenger Search Table went for £100 (in reality £139 once the buyer’s premium and VAT had been added). It looked like, well, a table. And despite the name, I understand it was used to search baggage rather than passengers themselves.

Also on the luggage theme: one of those gauges that you have to try to squidge your hand baggage in sold for £400 (£557 including taxes and charges).

So I decided to simply treat the event as a superb piece of free theatre, with people bidding against each other to buy a run-of-the-mill baggage trolley for £250 (or £350 after those pesky extras). As everything was sold as seen, “with all faults, imperfections and defects”, I hope the trolley didn’t turn out to have a wonky wheel.

“Some of the prices were simply astounding,” said the auctioneer, Adam Alexander, after the event. “That simply underlines what an iconic sale this has been.”

CA Global Partners, the auctioneers, made a mint – as did the Chancellor, who collected 20 per cent VAT on everything. And as every other airport in the world looked enviously on, the rest of the cash flowed back to Heathrow.

Ivan Macquisten, spokesman for the auctioneers, told me: “Although air travel can be a stressful business, for many it has not lost its sense of romance and adventure.

“Clearly, apart from the retro chic appeal of some of the designs – and possibly the prospect of potentially making a good investment – bidders wanted a piece of something that they may never have the chance to get their hands on again.”

Twenty years ago this summer, Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong closed, replaced by the fabulous new Chek Lap Kok. After an unhappy succession of temporary jobs – as car showroom, government office and bowling alley – the terminal was demolished without ceremony. Or auction.

I imagine airport authorities from Schiphol in Amsterdam to Schoenefeld in East Berlin are now contemplating their next upgrade – or, in the case of the German airport, closure when the much-delayed Brandenburg facility finally opens.

Schoenefeld still has some GDR fixtures and fittings, and there is clearly a lucrative market out there for aeronautical nostalgia. But Mr Macquisten says one reason the Heathrow sale raised hundreds of thousands of pounds was the spirit of 1968.

“The fact that Terminal 1 opened in 1968 as the hub for what was arguably the world’s most important airport means it could be seen as the birthplace of the modern age of air travel for the general public.

“That is a powerful association to have when it comes to selling at auction.”

Meanwhile you can still grab a slice of the Heathrow auction action. Some heavy duty gear will be coming up for sale in future, including escalators, airbridges and baggage carousels. One careful owner, and about 300 million travellers’ stories.