Global travel disruption after Heathrow Airport shuts down over power outage caused by fire
London's Heathrow Airport announced a complete shutdown all day Friday due to a 'significant power outage' due to a large fire nearby, causing massive disruption to one of the world's busiest travel hubs as flights were forced to turn back midair or divert to other locations.
'Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage,' Heathrow Airport said in a statement on X. 'To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.'
'We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,' the airport said in a statement to CNN, adding that they 'do not have clarity on when power may be reliable restored.'
A transformer at an electrical substation in Hayes, a London suburb located just a few miles from the airport, caught fire Thursday night, according to the London Fire Brigade. The cause is not yet known, and firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze as of early Friday morning.
The brigade said it evacuated 150 people from the area. More than 16,000 homes lost power, according to utility supplier Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks — with Britain's National Grid 'working at speed' to restore power.
Videos shared on social media showed huge flames and smoke rising into the air early Friday.
'As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible,' Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said in the fire brigade's statement.
In its statement to CNN, the airport said: 'We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.'
Heathrow Airport appeared largely dark amid the power outage, according to videos shared on social media.
The shutdown could affect tens of thousands of travelers. Heathrow was the world's fourth-busiest airport in 2023, according to the most recent data, with a record-breaking 83.9 million passengers passing through last year.
Spread across four terminals and located 14 miles west of central London, it usually runs at 99% capacity, with every major airline passing through, meaning it's always very busy.
'Heathrow handles about a quarter of a million passengers a day. It does that with about 1,300 flights a day,' aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas told CNN on Friday. 'We've got literally hundreds of flights coming in from the United States, from Southeast Asia, the Middle East.'
Airline analytics firm Cirium estimated that 'upwards of 145,000' passengers could be impacted.
Dual US-Norwegian citizen Kim Mikkel Skibrek had already been flying for three hours from Minneapolis to London when crew announced they had to turn back due to the fire.
'Everything is fine. People were frustrated with the flight returning after over three hours but now it seems everyone is calmer,' Skibrek told CNN. He was traveling home to Oslo to be with his father battling cancer, and said he will have to get another flight as soon as possible.
On the same flight, Abby Hertz and her family were traveling to London for the wedding of her husband's best friend. The couple had postponed the wedding once due to Covid and were finally getting married now that their son was in remission from leukemia, Hertz said — but it's not clear if they'll be able to make the wedding now.
Meanwhile at New York's JFK Airport, passenger Christine said her British Airways flight had been ready to depart when the pilot announced they'd been asked to hold for a while. Half an hour later, passengers were told Heathrow was closed and that another flight which had already taxied to the runway had turned back — leaving them stuck on the tarmac.
'The mood is fairly relaxed on the plane, surprisingly. They've just come around to feed us,' said Christine, who declined to give her last name. But, she said, with a wedding in the UK to attend Saturday, 'I really hope we're not stuck until then!'
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, more than 1,350 flights going in or out of Heathrow on Friday will be affected. It also said 120 flights were in the air when the announcement came. They had to be diverted to other airports or turned back to their original location.
Thomas added that while shorter domestic flights might be able to turn back, that's not an option for long-haul international flights. There are several other airports near London, including Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport, but those are likely 'at capacity,' meaning diverted flights have to go further to find an alternative place to land — like in Glasgow or Edinburgh, he said.
And that could pose another problem. Those other airports, some of them smaller and lower-cost than Heathrow, aren't equipped to handle the sheer number of diverted passengers coming their way, he said.
As authorities race to contain the fire and navigate the fallout, they'll also face tough questions, Thomas said, including why such a crucial travel and economic hub wasn't able to tap into a backup power source.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
— CNN's Martin Goillandeau and Juliana Liu contributed to this report.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of terminals at Heathrow Airport.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Skift
3 hours ago
- Skift
Airlines Cancel and Divert Routes as U.S. Enters War With Iran
Airlines had already begun canceling routes as tensions rose in the past week. The latest escalation may lead to more changes. Airlines are continuing to avoid airspace in the Middle East following U.S. strikes on Iran nuclear sites on Saturday, creating more flight disruptions and cancellations. The latest attacks marked a significant escalation, with the U.S. effectively entering Israel's war against Iran. Israel had launched airstrikes to Tehran last week, which had led to more airspace closures in the region. 'Following US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, commercial traffic in the region is operating as it has since new airspace restrictions were put into place last week,' FlightRadar24 said in a post on X on Saturday.&
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Flights to Dubai and Doha cancelled after US strikes Iran
Flights between London and the Middle Eastern hubs of Dubai and Doha have faced cancellations following US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. It comes after a British Airways (BA) flight from London Heathrow to Dubai was diverted to Zurich on Saturday night. Flight BA109, which left the UK at 9.53pm on Saturday onboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, had to alter its flight path while over Saudi Arabia, eventually touching down in Switzerland, data from Flightradar24 shows. READ MORE: Foreign Office issue stream of travel alerts following US strikes on Iran READ MORE: Which food and drinks are banned on TUI, easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2 flights? British Airways has announced the suspension of all scheduled flights to and from Dubai and Doha set to depart from Heathrow on Sunday, including return journeys. Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE The US operation targeted three Iranian nuclear sites, leading to Iran responding with a volley of ballistic missiles aimed at Israel. In a statement, British Airways said: "As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority. "We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation." BA is offering a flexible booking policy for customers already booked onto flights to Dubai and Doha between Sunday and Tuesday who wish to change their dates of travel. According to Gatwick's website, flights to and from the airport to Doha and Dubai are continuing as scheduled. For the latest stories and breaking news visit Get the latest headlines, features and analysis that matter to you by signing up to our various Manchester Evening News newsletters here. You can also get all your favourite content from the Manchester Evening News on WhatsApp. Click here to stay up to date with the us on X @mennewsdesk for all the latest stories and updates on breaking incidents from across the region and beyond, as well as on our Facebook page you prefer reading our stories on your phone, consider downloading the Manchester Evening News app here, and our newsdesk will make sure every time an essential story breaks, you'll be the first to hear about it.
CNN
a day ago
- CNN
Hear from Americans still trying to leave Israel
Commercial airlines have, for days now, halted all flights in and out of Israel due to the ongoing conflict with Iran. CNN spoke to multiple Americans in central Israel who are still struggling to leave the country.
