A TALENTED student won a behind-the-scenes tour of Heathrow Airport following a competition at last year’s Farnborough Airshow.

Hannah Edwards, 15, from Aylesbury High School, Buckinghamshire, won Talentview Aviation’s Pioneers of Tomorrow Competition which saw her go airside on a private tour of Heathrow Airport.

The competition asked students to design a plane that had sustainable features, utilised technology and innovation, and improved passenger experience.

The 15-year-old’s winning drawing was of a plane called ‘The Eagle’, featuring a glass floor so passengers could see below, massage seats made from recycled plastic from the ocean, and a beak on the front to make it look like a bird of prey.

She went on the tour on July 6 and attended with her friend, Charlotte, and father, Richard.

As a surprise, they were able to go up into the Air Traffic Control Tower and learn more about airside operations from the airfield duty manager.

Heathrow tailored the tour to Hannah’s interests, as she is currently studying a GCSE in engineering. As part of the tour she also visited the airside operations control room, a Concorde, the fire and rescue operations, the Royal Suite, and the inside of a double-decker A380 cockpit.

Hannah said: “It was a very good experience and very eye-opening in terms of looking at careers.

"Everyone was really friendly and accommodating as we were going around, and all the places we visited were very cool. I have seen things people might not ever see, or even think about, some of the stuff I didn’t know existed.”

The winner of the competition was chosen by judges from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

One judge said: “I thought all the entries were fantastic, very creative and innovative.”

On why Hannah’s drawing won the competition, the judges’ comments were: “love the detail, clarity, innovation, recycling element and thought gone into this entry.”