Flying through Heathrow this summer? You might hear this first-of-its-kind track

CNN

10-07-2025

London's Heathrow Airport is hoping to get travelers into the holiday mood this summer with a soundtrack of real-life jet engines, lift dings and baggage sirens.
Created by Grammy-nominated Jordan Rakei, 'Music for Heathrow' is the first track to be made entirely with sounds recorded from an airport, according to an announcement from the UK airport Tuesday.
To help create the song, Rakei was given 'unprecedented' access to Europe's busiest airport.
He sampled more than 50 sounds from the airfield, baggage handling systems and the terminals, Heathrow Airport said.
Sounds featured in the song include passports being stamped, bags hitting the conveyor belt and public address announcements.
Rakei said in the press release that it was an honor to 'turn Heathrow's many sounds into music.'
'It's all about building that suspense and setting the mood for where you're headed on your summer holiday,' he added.
While most of the track uses the sounds recorded by Rakei, he has also included a few pop culture Easter eggs. The sound of tapping feet is from a scene set in Heathrow from the 2002 movie 'Bend It Like Beckham,' while beeping is taken from a Heathrow security scanner in the 2003 rom-com 'Love Actually.'
Heathrow added that the four-minute ambient loop was a tribute to Brian Eno's 1979 album 'Music for Airports,' which helped popularize the ambient genre.
'Music for Heathrow' will not be the only musical offering for some 250,000 flyers expected to pass through Heathrow each day this summer, the airport said.
After their introduction last year, the airport is bringing back live music acts, hosting seven concerts on Fridays in July.
Heathrow's foray into music comes amid other attempts by airports to lighten travelers' mood. For example, the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport hosted a rooftop concert to celebrate its 50th anniversary last Summer.