A power outage forced London’s Heathrow airport, one of the world’s busiest, to shut down on Friday morning, prompting chaos and disrupting travel for tens of thousands of air passengers. In a post on social media, the airport blamed a fire at an electrical substation in North Hyde, Hayes, for the power outage and stated that it did not expect to reopen until late Friday night. Aviation analyst Alex Macheras indicated the repercussions of the closure were substantial, noting, "It could possibly take days" to return to normal operations.
The London Fire Brigade’s deputy commissioner, Jonathan Smith, revealed that a large fire in the electrical substation was to blame for cutting power to the airport. On Friday, about 67,000 households were left without power due to the incident. Although no injuries were reported, firefighters managed to evacuate nearly 180 people from the vicinity.
In a statement released early Friday, Heathrow Airport urged passengers and staff to stay away from the premises and emphasized that it was not expected to reopen before midnight. "Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the statement read.
Witnesses at the airport described scenes of confusion and anxiety. Marhea, a 74-year-old traveler, had arrived at Heathrow to catch a Brussels Airlines flight to Liberia. “There was darkness and confusion when I arrived, with no staff in sight to explain what had happened,” she recounted, describing the chaotic scene at terminal five. Another traveler, Ellen, expressed her frustration after her British Airways flight to Venice for her 30th birthday was canceled. “We have been offered a full refund by the airline so we won’t be traveling now this weekend but will try to rearrange for another weekend soon,” she stated.
Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Smith provided further details on the fire, explaining that it had been intensified due to approximately 25,000 liters of cooling oil, which was fully alight. Authorities stated that investigations were ongoing, but UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed there was no evidence of foul play. Dr. Alan Mendoza from the Henry Jackson Society suggested a full national audit is necessary to prevent similar incidents in the future, stating, “Fires happen. But they shouldn’t be capable of taking out an entire airport as it suggests backup systems are inadequate.”
The fire occurred near Heathrow, specifically at the North Hyde electrical substation, approximately a 20-minute drive away from the airport itself. More than 1,357 flights were reported as disrupted by FlightRadar24, which indicated that about 679 flights had been scheduled to land at the airport, while 678 were expected to take off Friday morning. Some flights were diverted to airports in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Manchester, leading to significant congestion and confusion for travelers.
Skyrocketing numbers of flights were reported to be affected as more aircraft awaited to be diverted. Reports indicated that about 120 planes were still airborne when notifications of the shutdown occurred. Lloyd, a 34-year-old passenger who was supposed to travel to the United States via Heathrow, recounted the difficulties he faced. After receiving notification of a rescheduled flight while on his way to Glasgow Airport, he learned that his 6:35 am flight had been canceled altogether. “Perhaps because we hadn’t set off to London yet, we weren’t as upset as those now stuck in Heathrow,” he admitted.
Heathrow Airport is a significant hub in global aviation, with around 67 million passengers passing through annually and about 1,300 flights scheduled each day. However, disruptions of this scale have historical precedence; similar events have been noted in the past. Last July, for instance, an IT outage led to thousands of flight cancellations and extensive disruptions across several industries. August 2023 witnessed another interruption when a technical glitch in the National Air Traffic Services planning system affected over 700,000 passengers.
As operations at Heathrow remain suspended for the time being, airlines including British Airways are working quickly to accommodate affected travelers. “We’re doing our best to keep passengers updated on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond,” British Airways representatives stated, as the chaos began to unfold.
Emergency protocols have been enacted as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control, while airline operators are scrambling to manage the substantial scheduling disruptions. “We’ve got literally hundreds of flights coming in from the United States, from Southeast Asia, the Middle East,” explained aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas. He noted that while airlines traditionally direct diverted flights to secondary options like London Gatwick, those airports often lack the capacity to handle the overflow from such an extensive cancellation scenario.
The airport typically handles approximately 250,000 passengers daily, with 1,300 flights. As London’s primary air travel gateway, the ongoing disruption is impacting connections and operations far and wide, as travelers worldwide await updates on their plans.
As the situation unfolds, major airlines will also face challenges in routing passengers effectively in the wake of an unforeseen closure that could not only affect the weekend travel plans but also potentially ripple through international travel schedules for weeks on end. Observers note the urgent need for an assessment of emergency systems at pivotal transportation hubs, with many questioning why a single system failure could lead to such sweeping consequences across air travel.
Heathrow Airport will remain closed until at least midnight on March 21, 2025, and the repercussions of this setback are just beginning to emerge.
