At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers tried to reschedule their travel and airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews.
At least 1,350 flights were affected.(Photo: Reuters)
London's Heathrow Airport was hit with a huge operational crisis on Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation that caused a large-scale power outage. The incident compelled airport authorities to cancel all flights, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers and affecting global travel.
In a latest report, Heathrow Airport said that it planned to resume some flights on Friday. The London airfield said it would begin flights for passengers stranded when they were diverted to other European airports and to get planes back in the right place. It hopes to be in full operation on Saturday.
At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said, and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers tried to reschedule their travel and airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews.
Authorities do not know what caused the fire, but so far, no suspicious evidence has been found.
Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% from the same period last year.
What happened?
A fire at an electrical substation in west London, three kilometres from Heathrow, occurred late Thursday night. The blaze caused a power failure that had severely affected airport operations. Officials shut down the airport for safety until 11:59 pm on Friday.
About 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced, with some turned around and others diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, or Ireland’s Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called it "catastrophic," adding that a backup generator also was destroyed by the fire. However, the energy secretary said that there’s “no suggestion” of foul play. However, counterterrorism detectives have been brought in by the Metropolitan Police to investigate the fire because of their ability to find the cause quickly.
The fire, which took seven hours to control, sparked criticism of Britain’s preparedness for disasters or attacks, highlighting concerns over how a single blaze could shut down Europe’s busiest airport. Tom Wells, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, acknowledged that authorities had questions to answer and said a rigorous investigation was needed to make sure “this scale of disruption does not happen again.”
Disruption could last days
Heathrow initially stated it was hoping to reopen before midnight but predicted "substantial disruption over the next few days, and passengers must not make any attempt to travel to the airport at all until the airport is open again. Even after flights resume, it will take several days to mobilize planes, cargo carriers, and crews and rebook passengers, said aviation consultant Anita Mendiratta.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
Published By:
Satyam Singh
Published On:
Mar 21, 2025