London Heathrow Airport (LHR), one of the busiest travel hubs in the world, has been forced to close for the entire day following a fire at a nearby electricity substation that caused a massive power outage. The incident has disrupted operations, leading to the cancellation of over 1,300 flights and stranding thousands of travelers.
According to Condé Nast Traveler, the fire broke out in the early hours of Friday morning. Though emergency crews contained the blaze, the airport remains shut down as authorities investigate the cause. Heathrow officials have advised passengers not to travel to the airport and to check with their airlines for further updates.
The outage has had a ripple effect on air travel across Europe. Some flights were diverted to alternative airports, including London-Gatwick, Amsterdam Schiphol, and Frankfurt. An Air India flight was forced to return to Mumbai. British Airways, Heathrow’s largest operator, issued a statement saying, “The outage will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers. We’re working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond”.
The disruption is expected to last beyond today, with aviation analysts warning of a “knock-on effect” that could extend through the weekend. “The impact of this incident can cascade over several days, as aircraft, crew, and passengers are out of place, with limited spare aircraft and seats available to recover passengers,” a spokesperson for Cirium, an aviation analytics company, told Condé Nast Traveler.
Heathrow, which handles an average of 220,000 passengers per day, is Europe’s busiest airport by seat capacity and the fifth busiest in the world With travelers facing uncertainty, airlines have urged passengers to check online for flight status updates before heading to any airport.
As investigations continue, authorities are working to restore full power and resume normal operations as soon as possible.
