London Heathrow Airport has slowly resumed flight operations after a massive power outage, caused by a fire at an electrical substation, forced the airport to shut down for nearly 18 hours. The disruption led to the cancellation and delay of over 1,350 flights, impacting around 200,000 passengers.
What Caused the Power Outage at Heathrow?
The fire erupted just before midnight on Thursday at an electrical substation located 3.2 km from Heathrow Airport. Firefighters took nearly seven hours to extinguish the blaze. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is investigating the cause but has ruled out any criminal activity.
The power failure affected thousands of homes in the area, leaving 67,000 households without electricity. While most homes had power restored by the next morning, Heathrow struggled to resume full operations due to the failure of its backup power system.
Flights Disrupted, Thousands of Passengers Stranded
The outage caused significant disruptions:
- Over 1,350 flights were delayed or canceled.
- Some aircraft were diverted to other airports, including Gatwick, Charles de Gaulle (Paris), and Shannon (Ireland).
- The chaos left passengers stranded for hours, struggling to rebook flights.
Unexpected Detours & Passenger Struggles
Many passengers experienced unexpected diversions. Lawrence Hayes, traveling from New York to London on a Virgin Atlantic flight, was unexpectedly diverted to Glasgow. “It was a red-eye flight, and I’ve been up for who knows how long,” he told the BBC.
Similarly, Mark Doherty, flying from New York’s JFK Airport, was halfway over the Atlantic when he noticed on the in-flight map that his plane was turning around. “I thought it was a joke,” he said. His flight ended up returning to New York.
Another passenger, Andrea Sri, arrived at Heathrow with her brother, sister-in-law, and their three children for a flight to Dallas, only to find out it was canceled. “It was a complete waste of time. Very confusing,” she said.
Qantas Airlines had to reroute flights from Singapore and Perth to Paris, arranging alternate transport to London via bus and train.
Infrastructure Concerns & Government Response
The incident has raised serious concerns about the UK’s infrastructure preparedness. Some residents in West London reported hearing an explosion and seeing a fireball before the blackout.
Despite having backup power systems, Heathrow failed to maintain operations. CEO Thomas Woldbye admitted,
“We cannot guard ourselves 100% against contingencies of this scale, and this was one of those incidents.”
Security expert Alan Mendoza, from the Henry Jackson Society, criticized the UK’s readiness, stating,
“The UK’s critical infrastructure is not sufficiently protected to prevent such incidents from happening again.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer spokesperson, Tom Wells, acknowledged these concerns and called for a thorough investigation to prevent future occurrences.
Heathrow Slowly Returning to Normal
After power was restored, Heathrow lifted its shutdown order. A British Airways flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was among the first to depart. By Friday night, flights began landing and taking off, but disruptions are expected to continue for several days as airlines adjust schedules and rebook passengers.
The airport aims to return to a full schedule by Saturday. However, passengers are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
