A fire knocked out power to London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday, shutting down the facility and affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers before authorities announced a partial resumption of flights
LONDON (AP) — A fire knocked out power to London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday, shutting down the facility and affecting hundreds of thousands of passangers before authorities announced a partial resumption of flights.
At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected by the shutdown, including several from U.S. cities that were canceled, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said. Later on Friday, the airport said it would begin flights for stranded passengers, and hoped to resume operation on Saturday.
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Some flights to resume at Heathrow after a fire cut power to Europe’s busiest airport
Heathrow Airport said it planned to resume some flights Friday after a large fire at an electrical substation knocked out power to Europe’s busiest flight hub and disrupted global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The London airport said it would begin flights for passengers stranded when their flights were diverted to other airports in Europe and to get airplanes back in the right place. It hopes to be in full operation on Saturday.
BA warns disruption at Heathrow will persist for days
British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle says the closure of Heathrow Airport will have a “huge impact” on passengers even after it reopens.
Heathrow is BA’s base and it is the airline most affected by the shutdown. Doyle said the airline had been due to operate more than 670 flights carrying more than 100,000 passengers on Friday.
Passengers booked to fly to or from Heathrow on Saturday or Sunday are being given the option to rebook to a later date for free.
In a video to customers, Doyle said: “We hope that power will be restored as soon as possible. But even when that does happen, this incident will have a substantial impact on our airline and customers for many days to come, with disruption to journeys expected over the coming days.”
Lights are back on at Heathrow Terminal 4
Travelers say power is back on at one of the two Heathrow Airport terminals left in the dark after a fire at an electricity substation.
Lights came back on at Terminal 4 on Friday afternoon. Firefighters earlier said that terminals 2 and 4 at the airport had lost all power after the blaze. Heathrow shut the airport to all arriving and departing flights until at least midnight.
Electricity distributor National Grid said it had found an “interim solution” that reconfigured its network, allowing electricity to be restored to all customers, including Heathrow.
It’s unclear whether power to the airport has been fully restored.
Heathrow is facing questions about how it could be shut down by a fire at a single substation 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away.
The airport said it has emergency backup systems that worked as expected, but they are not enough to run the whole airport.
Airline industry boss hits out at systemic issues
Willie Walsh, director general of airline industry group IATA, took to social media to lambaste Heathrow’s management.
“Firstly, how is it that critical infrastructure — of national and global importance — is totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative,” he said in a post from IATA’s account on social media platform X. “If that is the case — as it seems — then it is a clear planning failure by the airport.”
He also questioned whether it was fair that airlines are solely responsible for “picking up the tab when infrastructure fails.”
Prices surge at hotels near Heathrow
Stranded travelers looking for somewhere to stay until they can fly out of Heathrow faced the possibility of jacked-up prices for rooms because hotels are “capitalizing on a huge spike in demand”, warned Tim Hentschel, CEO of booking platform HotelPlanner.com.
In one example from the company’s website, the Crowne Plaza at Heathrow’s Terminal Four was charging 485 pounds ($627) for a room on Friday, compared with 140 pounds for the same time next week.
“Hotels near major transport hubs like Heathrow often see price fluctuations during such crises, as supply struggles to meet the sudden demand,” Hentschel said. He added that “there is also an essence of the hospitality industry price gouging to cash in on unfortunate circumstances, which is a real shame.”
United Airlines offers travel waiver to Heathrow customers
United Airlines says that it is offering a travel waiver to its customers while Heathrow is closed so that they can switch to eligible flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris or Edinburgh. The airline said that all flights scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Friday are canceled due to the closure.
Eurostar adding trains to help travelers
Eurostar says it is adding two additional trains between London and Paris to accommodate passengers stranded by Heathrow’s shutdown.
The high-speed train that goes beneath the English Channel said it was increasing capacity by 882 passengers per train on Friday.
Heathrow says it doesn't know when power will be restored
Heathrow Airport says it doesn’t know when power will be restored and expects disruption to last for days.
The airport said in a statement it does not have “clarity on when power may be reliably restored.”
It said it expects “significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
Heathrow earlier said the airport is not expected to reopen until Saturday.
Analysts say Heathrow closure raises worrying questions
While the cause of the fire that shut down Heathrow Airport is still unclear, analysts say the incident raises concerns about the U.K.’s ability to withstand attacks or natural disasters that damage critical infrastructure such as communications and power networks.
It’s particularly worrisome given recent comments by Britain’s security services that Russia is conducting a reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe, said Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank focused on security and democracy in Europe.
“The U.K.’s critical national infrastructure is not sufficiently hardened for anywhere near the level it would need to be at to give us confidence this won’t happen again,” Mendoza said.
“I mean, if one fire can shut down Heathrow’s primary systems and then apparently the backup systems as well, it tells you something’s badly wrong with our system of management of such disasters,” he added.
European airline shares fall on main indexes
The Heathrow disruption weighed on shares of European airlines, which posted declines that outpaced the fall in broader main stock indexes on Friday.
Shares of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, were down 1.4% after falling as much as 3% in early trading. Shares of Lufthansa, which operates Germany’s biggest carrier as well as Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and others, fell 1.3%. Air France-KLM, which operates the main carriers in France the Netherlands, slid 1.3%.
German leisure and tourism company TUI, which owns five airlines including one that serves the British market, slid 1.8%. Other European airlines that don’t operate at Heathrow were also dragged down by the negative sentiment. Wizz Air shares declined 1.4%, easyJet was down 0.7% and Ryanair dipped 0.8.
UK prime minister calls for rigorous investigation into fire
The British government says “clearly there are questions to answer” about how a single fire could shut down Europe’s busiest airport.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there must be a rigorous investigation to make sure “this scale of disruption does not happen again.”
Tom Wells said the most pressing task is to extinguish the fire, which is still burning on Friday. He said that “at the moment the priority is to deal with the incident in hand.”
He said “it’s very premature” to speculate on the cause of the blaze.
US flight operations normal as Delta issues waiver for Heathrow passengers
Flight operations remained normal in the United States on Friday despite the Heathrow fire, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Delta Airlines has issued a travel waiver through Sunday for customers who need to rebook their flights due to the Heathrow fire, a spokesperson said in a statement.
The company canceled 10 flights scheduled to depart from Heathrow on Friday.
No indication of foul play in London blaze, police say
Police say there is so far no indication of foul play in blaze that shut Heathrow but counterterror detectives leading the investigation into its cause.
The Metropolitan Police force says that is because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure.
The force says counterterrorism command has “specialist resources and capabilities” that can help find the cause quickly.
Heathrow closure recalls Icelandic volcano disruption
The Heathrow closure is drawing comparisons to the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption that closed much of European airspace for five days out of fears volcanic ash could damage jet engines.
The eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-lah-yer-kuhl), after two centuries of silence, spewed an ash cloud that closed Europe’s airspace and grounded millions of travelers. Iceland was briefly infamous as the country that stopped the world.
Scandinavian Airlines cancels 12 round-trip London flights
Scandinavian Airlines has canceled all 12 of its flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and remain in continuous dialogue with Heathrow. Naturally, we hope for a swift resolution,” the company said in a statement.
Known as SAS, it’s considered the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
Hopes dashed for family seeking to travel home to Texas
At Heathrow’s Terminal 5, a family of five traveling to Dallas had shown up in the hopes their flight home — still listed as delayed — would take off.
But when Andrea Sri brought her brother, sister-in-law and their three children to the airport, they were told by police that there would be no flight.
“It was a waste of time. Very confusing,” said Sri, who lives in London. “We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they don’t open their telephone line until 8 a.m.”
Other London-area airports could reroute stranded travelers
Heathrow is one of the world’s biggest airports, but there are five others in the wider London area as well.
Travelers might be able to rebook through the remaining five airports -- City, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southend -- in the aftermath of Heathrow’s closure.
However, they aren't all easy to reach from Heathrow. While City is in inner London, and buses link Heathrow with Gatwick, the others are further out. Southend is about a 78-mile drive from Heathrow, around the congested M25 orbital highway and then out to the eastern coast of England.
Witnesses describe fireball and loud explosion from substation blaze
LONDON — Residents in west London have described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when a blaze ripped through an electrical substation near Heathrow Airport.
Matthew Muirhead, who was working a night shift, said that at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday he saw smoke rising over trees, then “a bright flash of white and all the lights in town went out.”
Delivery driver Adeel Anwar said the heat and billowing smoke from the blaze were “absolutely apocalyptic.” He told Sky News that as he drove past the substation “I just felt the heat … I tried to just get out of the area as quick as possible.”
Firefighters brought the blaze under control after seven hours and were still working to douse the flames on Friday. No injuries were reported.
Electricity supplier National Grid said power was restored to 62,000 customers by Friday morning, with 4,900 still without electricity.
Air India suspends Heathrow flights, with one turning around in midair
NEW DELHI — All Air India flights to Heathrow were suspended until Friday midnight, the carrier said in a statement, adding that it will “update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information.”
The airline also said one of its flights had to return midair to Mumbai and another was diverted to Frankfurt. The company didn’t specify how many flights were affected in total.
Some passengers at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport said they had been informed of cancellations, while others said they were still waiting for the airline to provide them with alternate flights.
“As soon I went inside to get my boarding pass, they (airline staff) told us that the flight has been canceled and there is no flight for next two, three days,” passenger Vikas Swarup said.
Emma Fulton, who was in India’s Jaipur city for a wedding, said she received a text message en route to the airport.
“We had a text message about 20 mins before we arrived here, but we were already on the road,” she said.
What should travelers do?
Any travelers impacted by the Heathrow closure should contact their airline.
If a phone call doesn’t go through, travelers can also try contacting the airline on social media. Several airlines were responding to passengers’ posts on social platform X on Friday. A representative for British Airways, for example, was telling customers on X to send a direct message to the airline’s account so they could assist in rebooking.
For customers who are seeking a refund or other compensation, a European Union regulation known as EU261 could apply. Because the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, however, not every flight will be covered under EU261. The regulation covers flights within the EU, as well as flights departing from the EU to a non-EU country.
‘An incredibly long day’ for travelers
GLASGOW — Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from John F. Kennedy International in New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.
“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. “Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston (railway station in London), but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”
Ryanair adds ‘rescue flights’ between Dublin and London Stansted
DUBLIN — Ryanair has added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, on Friday and Saturday to help travelers impacted by the fire at Heathrow, the budget airline announced.
Ryanair does not operate at Heathrow.
Four of the flights will occur Friday afternoon, and the remaining on Saturday morning.
No evidence that substation fire was suspicious, UK officials say
LONDON — British officials working to determine the cause of an electrical substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport have not yet found evidence it’s suspicious.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says “it’s too early to say” what caused the huge blaze, but there’s “no suggestion” of foul play.
London’s Metropolitan Police say the fire brigade is leading the investigation, suggesting it’s not thought to be criminal.
Birdsong replaces aircraft noise for Heathrow neighbors
The noise from Europe's busiest airport is a constant bugbear for those who live nearby, but has temporarily fallen silent.
“Basically living near Heathrow is noisy. There are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing," said James Henderson, who has lived next to Heathrow for over 20 years.
"Today is different. You can hear the birds singing.”
Aviation expert compares impact to 9/11 or Icelandic volcano
LONDON — Aviation consultant John Strickland says it will take several days for global airline travel to recover from a daylong closure of Heathrow Airport.
He said: “We’re talking about several days’ worth of disruption to get the planes recovered and start using them again to move planned and disrupted passengers.”
Strickland compared the disruption to “a contained version of 9/11 or, to an extent, the Icelandic volcanic eruption” that shut European airspace in 2010.
“I remembered seeing on those occasions – particularly more so on 9/11 – it happened so quick and then U.S. airspace was closed, they were turning back aircraft and holding planes. That’s the parallel I would make.
“Heathrow being such a busy airport and full, there’s no kind of wriggle room for getting out of these kind of things.”
Heathrow closure has widespread impact on air travel
The closure of Heathrow rippled through global aviation. The long-haul carrier Emirates in Dubai, which has London as one of its top destinations, canceled six round-trip flights to Heathrow on Friday alone.
Etihad in neighboring Abu Dhabi canceled two round-trip flights, while one flight diverted to Frankfurt, Germany. Qatar Airways said at least seven scheduled flights were “impacted,” with its staff working with passengers.
Blaze that shut down Heathrow is unprecedented, UK government minister says
A British government minister says a “catastrophic” fire knocked out a backup generator as well as the electrical substation that supplies power to Heathrow Airport.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC that the blaze is “unprecedented.”
He said it’s too early to know the cause but that lessons will have to be learned about “protection and the resilience that is in place for major institutions like Heathrow.”
Fire that closed Heathrow is now under control but not out
The London Fire Brigade says the electrical substation blaze closed Heathrow Airport is under control.
The fire caused a widespread power outage, affecting thousands of homes, local businesses, and disrupting thousands of flights.
LFB Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne says the fire was under control just after 8 a.m.
“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” he said. “Thanks to their efforts and a coordinated multi-agency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.”
Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports
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% for the same period last year. January also was the 11th month in a row it averaged over 200,000 passengers a day, with the airport citing trans-Atlantic travel as a key contributor.
Heathrow normally opens for flights at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. It said the closure would last until 11:59 p.m. Friday.
The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.
Fire cuts off power to Heathrow and thousands of homes
Flames soared into the sky when a transformer at an electrical substation caught fire in west London late Thursday night. The fire continued to smolder after daybreak.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes. About 150 people were evacuated. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
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