Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness flights to and from Heathrow grounded
Flights between Scotland and Heathrow have been cancelled in the wake of a fire at an electrical substation near the London airport.British Airways services from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness to Heathrow - which is Europe's busiest airport - have been affected.Scotland fans travelling back from the Uefa Nations League play-off meeting with Greece in Athens are among those to have journeys disrupted.Passengers are advised to check whether their flights have been affected and contact the airline for further details.
More than 1,300 flights will be disrupted after a transformer within the North Hyde electrical substation caught fire in west London.About 120 flights to the airport were in the air when the closure was announced.
Travel writer Simon Calder told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland the scale of the shutdown was the largest since the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010.A spokesperson for Heathrow said they did not know when electrical supplies would be restored.Disruption is expected to last for several days.BBC journalist Thomas Mackintosh had been due to fly into Heathrow after watching Scotland's 1-0 win over Greece in Athens on Thursday night. He told Good Morning Scotland fellow fans had been looking for alternative ways to get home.He said: "We've heard some pretty wacky routes so far from friends of ours. Some are going via Dublin, some are going via Rome, Milan, Istanbul I've heard as well."It's inconvenient for sure, but it can't be helped at the minute and the Greek authorities have been really helpful."Fortunately we have been able to book on another flight, but that has come at a bit of an expense, about €500 (£418)."
A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said 10 outbound and 12 inbound services had been affected by the fire.They added that BA flights were the only services to be grounded and all others were operating normally.A spokesperson for AGS Airports, which operates Aberdeen and Glasgow Airports, said: "Our airports are operating as normal apart from all flights to and from London Heathrow which have been cancelled for the remainder of the day. "Any passenger scheduled to fly to Heathrow should contact their airline directly before travelling to the airport"Meanwhile, Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL), which runs Inverness Airport, confirmed the 10:00 arrival from Heathrow and the 11:05 departure to the airport were cancelled.
Refund or reroute
Rory Boland, editor of Which? travel said passengers may not be entitled to compensation if their flight was cancelled.However they may be able to claim a refund for the flight and parking fees through their insurance provider.He said: "Passengers will have the choice of being rerouted or accepting a refund, and if you opt for the former, your airline is obliged to get you on a new flight as soon as possible, including with rival carriers from alternative airports. "If you instead accept a refund, be aware that your airline will have no further duty of care to you and you'll need to make your own arrangements."It's also worth checking the terms of your travel insurance to see if you are able to recoup any other expenses you may have incurred as a result of this incident, such as car hire or airport parking fees."
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