Лондонский округ Хиллингдон не имеет традиционных почтовых кодов столицы

Home to Heathrow Airport and more than 300,000 people, Hillingdon is unmistakably part of London – yet not a single address in the borough has one of the capital's traditional directional postcodes. Traditional London postcodes such as SE, SW, E, N, NW, or W are nowhere to be found across the borough. Instead, addresses in Hillingdon use postcode areas more commonly associated with places outside central London. The majority of Hillingdon is covered by UB postcodes, while other parts of the borough use HA and TW postcodes. Read more - KFC is opening a pop-up wine bar in Shoreditch - with a chicken surprise - Why people are queuing for up to an hour outside this London restaurant - Major Piccadilly line closure returns next week - here's what you need to know This means that you can be within Greater London without having what many people would immediately recognise as a 'London' postcode. Why doesn't Hillingdon have a London postcode? The reason for Hillingdon's lack of a London postcode is rooted in the history of how postcode areas were developed. Postcodes were created with postal sorting and delivery needs in mind, rather than aligning with London's modern borough boundaries. The London Borough of Hillingdon itself only came into existence in 1965, following the merger of the former Borough of Uxbridge and the urban districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, and Yiewsley and West Drayton. As a result, Hillingdon inherited postcode areas based around places such as Uxbridge, Harrow, and Twickenham, rather than the directional London postcode system. For example, Uxbridge and much of the surrounding area use the UB postcode area, with the council's Civic Centre in Uxbridge having the postcode UB8. Parts of the north of the borough fall within the HA postcode area, while the Heathrow area includes TW postcodes. This means that while an address may say Uxbridge, Middlesex, or have a UB postcode, it can still be within a London borough. Hillingdon is home to Heathrow Airport Perhaps the most unusual part of Hillingdon's geography is the fact it contains Heathrow Airport. Hillingdon Council describes the borough as 'London's gateway to the world' and says Heathrow is Britain's busiest airport and hub connector. The airport had its busiest year on record in 2025, welcoming more than 84.5 million passengers, up from 83.9 million in 2024. Heathrow itself is another good example of London's sometimes confusing postcode geography. Despite being in Greater London, the airport uses TW6 postcodes, with Heathrow Airport Limited's address listed as Nelson Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW6 2GW. While most of Heathrow Airport lies within the London Borough of Hillingdon, the wider Heathrow area also extends towards neighbouring Hounslow. Hillingdon Council describes the borough as being home to Heathrow, while City Hall lists both Hillingdon and Hounslow in its wider Heathrow Opportunity Area. Is Hillingdon definitely part of London? Despite what its postcodes might suggest, Hillingdon is very much part of London. The borough was created in 1965 and sits at the westernmost edge of Greater London, bordering Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, as well as the London boroughs of Hounslow, Ealing, and Harrow. Hillingdon is the second-largest London borough by area, covering around 115 square kilometres. More than half of the borough is made up of countryside, including parks, woodland, rivers, and canals. The borough also has several unmistakably London transport links. The Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines serve parts of Hillingdon, while the Elizabeth line runs through Hayes & Harlington and West Drayton before reaching Heathrow. So, while your postcode might begin UB, HA, or TW rather than one of London's familiar compass-point letters, residents of Hillingdon are still Londoners. Their borough just happens to contain one of the country's most important gateways to the rest of the world.