Heathrow fire closure causes flight turmoil
People wait at the Paddington railway station, after a fire at an electrical substation wiped out power at the Heathrow International Airport, in London. Photo: REUTERS
Flights at Britain's Heathrow began resuming late on Friday after a fire knocked out its power supply and shut Europe's busiest airport for the day, stranding thousands of passengers and causing travel turmoil worldwide.
Heathrow said its teams had worked tirelessly to reopen the world's fifth-busiest airport after it was forced to close entirely after a huge fire engulfed a substation near the airport on Thursday night, with travellers told to stay away.
The airport had been due to handle 1,351 flights on Friday, flying up to 291,000 passengers, but planes were diverted to other airports in Britain and across Europe, while many long-haul flights returned to their point of departure.
Heathrow said there would be a limited number of flights on Friday, mostly focused on relocating aircraft and bringing planes into London. "Tomorrow morning, we expect to be back in full operation, to 100% operation as a normal day," said Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye.
"What I'd like to do is to apologise to the many people who have had their travel affected ...we are very sorry about all the inconvenience."
Police said that while there was no indication of foul play, counter-terrorism officers were leading the inquiries, given their capabilities and the critical nature of the infrastructure. The closure not only caused misery for travellers but provoked anger from airlines who questioned how such crucial infrastructure could fail.
The industry is now facing the prospect of a financial hit costing tens of millions of pounds, and a likely fight over who should pay. "You would think they would have significant back-up power," one top executive from a European airline told Reuters.
Heathrow's Woldbye said back-up systems and procedures had worked as they should. "This (power supply) is a bit of a weak point," he told reporters outside the airport.
"But of course contingencies of certain sizes we cannot guard ourselves against 100% and this is one of them." Asked who would pay, he said there were "procedures in place", adding "we don't have liabilities in place for incidents like this".
British transport minister Heidi Alexander said the incident had been out of Heathrow's control. "They have stood up their resilience plans very swiftly and have been working in close collaboration with all the emergency responders and the airline operators," she told reporters.
"There are no suggestions at the moment of foul play, but you will appreciate the investigation keeps an open mind."
Diverted
Airlines including jetBlue, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air India, Delta Air Lines, Qantas, United Airlines, IAG-owned British Airways and Virgin were diverted or returned to their origin airports in the middle of the night, according to data from flight analytics firm Cirium.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Express Tribune
Trump imposes new US travel ban on 12 nations
Afghan refugees queue outside a distribution and donation center at Liberty Village on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, U.S., December 2, 2021. REUTERS/Barbara Davidson/Pool/File photo Listen to article US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning the nationals of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats. The directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has also included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members and efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students and deport others. The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The entry of people from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, will be partially restricted. "We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm," Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised and new countries could be added. "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen... That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others." –President Trump — The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 4, 2025 The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025 at 12:01 am EDT (0401 GMT). Who does it apply to? The proclamation states that the full and partial travel bans apply to foreign nationals of the designated countries who: - are outside the United States on June 9, and - do not have a valid visa on June 9 The proclamation also states: No immigrant or non-immigrant visa issued before June 9 "shall be revoked pursuant to this proclamation." Are there any exceptions to the trave bans? Exceptions to the travel ban include: - Any lawful permanent resident of the United States - Dual nationals - Diplomats traveling on valid non-immigrant visas - Athletes or members of an athletic team and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event - Immediate family immigrant visas - Adoptions - Afghan Special Immigrant Visas - Special Immigrant Visas for United States government employees - Immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban on nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen in 2021, calling it "a stain on our national conscience." Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a "large-scale presence of terrorists," fail to cooperate on visa security and have an inability to verify travelers' identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States. "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States," Trump said. He cited Sunday's incident in Boulder, Colorado in which an Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged in the attack. Federal officials said Soliman had overstayed his tourist visa and had an expired work permit - although Egypt is not on the list of countries facing travel limits. Somalia immediately pledged to work with the US to address security issues. "Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised," Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, responded on Wednesday evening by describing the US government as fascist and warning Venezuelans of being in the US. "The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans ... They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason." A spokesperson for the Taliban-led Afghan foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on how it would handle the thousands of Afghans waiting in Islamabad who had been in the pipeline for US resettlement. Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson of Myanmar's military government were not answered. The foreign ministry of Laos did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump campaigned on a tough border strategy and previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from Gaza, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and "anywhere else that threatens our security." Trump issued an executive order on January 20 requiring intensified security vetting of any foreigners seeking admission to the US to detect national security threats. That order directed several cabinet members to submit a list of countries from which travel should be partly or fully suspended because their "vetting and screening information is so deficient."
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Express Tribune
Pilgrims begin Hajj under blazing sun
Pilgrims make their way to Mina as Saudi authorities ratchet up heat protection measures. Photo: REUTERS More or less 1.6 million pilgrims from around the world, including 115,000 Pakistanis, on Wednesday converged on the vast tent city of Mina for the five-day communion with their Creator, Allah Almighty, invoking His divine mercy and seeking forgiveness for their sins. The sprawling tent city of Mina, situated just outside Makkah, marks the first stop for pilgrims undertaking Hajj. They will spend the night there before departing at dawn on Thursday for the plains of Arafat, where they will observe Waqoof-e-Arafat, the Rukn-e-Azm of Hajj, in deep prayer and reflection, seeking divine blessings. Pilgrims will listen to the Hajj sermon in their tents, with translations available in 35 languages. They will perform Zohr and Asr prayers together and spend the entire day engaged in prayers and Talbia. With temperatures expected to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), robed pilgrims slowly circled the holy Kaaba. Authorities have ratcheted up heat protection measures such as extra shade to avoid a repeat of last year, when 1,301 people died as temperatures hit 51.8C (125.2F). On Wednesday, pilgrims will perform the tawafwalking seven times around the holy Kaaba. Shaded areas have been enlarged by 50,000 square metres (12 acres), thousands of additional medics will be on standby and more than 400 cooling units will be deployed, Hajj Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told AFP last week. Artificial intelligence technology will help process the deluge of data, including video from a new fleet of drones, to better manage the massive crowds.
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business Recorder
Dubai party hotel FIVE considers listing in London or New York
DUBAI: Dubai party hotel operator FIVE Holdings is considering listing in London or New York, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The company, which owns the Pacha hotel and nightclub, has been exploring an initial public offering in Dubai, it has said. Chairman and founder Kabir Mulchandani said last year the company was worth up to $3 billion and was considering a dual listing. He did not name possible locations. London could be a strong candidate given a majority of clients at FIVE's Ibiza clubs are British nationals and that business generates significant revenues for the group, one of the people said. An offering would be a boost for London, which has struggled to attract IPOs. FIVE did not respond to requests for comment. Dubai is the biggest tourism and trade hub in the Middle East, attracting a record 18.7 million international overnight visitors last year. Foreign investors accounted for 50% of the total trading value on the Dubai Financial Market exchange last year, exchange data showed. UAE seeks US trade deal to roll back Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs The company and its advisers are planning to start the listing process by the end of the year, two of the people said. The three people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. FIVE operates luxury hotels in Ibiza and Switzerland as well as owning one of Dubai's biggest party hotels, where guests can park their top-of-the-range sports cars inside a nightclub for Dhs10,000 ($2,723). Guests can also rent its 16-passenger private jet for $14,000 an hour. This year's market volatility, triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, has weighed on global IPO activity, but the Gulf region has bucked the trend as both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have forged ahead with listing plans. They include Saudi budget airline flynas, which is seeking to raise over $1 billion, and Dubai Holding's residential REIT, whose shares rose almost 15% during its debut on Wednesday.
