Heathrow airport closure sparks global turmoil

Observer

21-03-2025

Britain's Heathrow said on Friday it was unclear when Europe's busiest airport would be able to re-open after a fire knocked out its power, stranding passengers and angering airlines who questioned how such crucial infrastructure could fail.
Huge orange flames and plumes of black smoke shot into the sky around 23:00 GMT on Thursday as a blaze engulfed a substation near the airport, cutting the power supply and a back-up system.
Police said that while there was no indication of foul play, they retained an open mind and counter-terrorism officers would lead the inquiries, given their capabilities and the critical nature of the infrastructure.
Heathrow, which is also the world's fifth-busiest airport, said at 13:30 GMT that it did not have clarity on when power would be reliably restored, having previously said the airport would be shut until midnight.
Airline experts said the last time European airports experienced disruption on such a large scale was the 2010 Icelandic ash cloud that grounded some 100,000 flights.
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," said one top executive from a European airline.
The British Airways check-in area at Newark International Airport stands nearly empty and closed following the closing of London Heathrow Airport after a fire there wiped out the power at Heathrow International Airport, in New Jersey. — Reuters
The fire brigade said the cause of the fire was not known, but that 25,000 litres of cooling oil in the substation's transformer had caught fire. By the morning the transformer could be seen smouldering, doused in white firefighting foam.
Heathrow had been due to handle 1,351 flights on Friday, flying up to 291,000 passengers. The closure forced flights to divert to other airports in Britain and across Europe, while many long-haul flights returned to their point of departure.
Passengers stranded in London and facing the prospect of days of disruptions were scrambling to make alternate travel arrangements.
"It's pretty stressful," Robyn Autry, 39, a professor, who had been due to fly home to New York. "I'm worried about how much is it going to cost me to fix this."
Industry experts warned that some passengers forced to land in Europe may have to stay in transit lounges if they lack the paperwork to leave the airport.
Global flight schedules will also be affected, as aircraft and crews will now be out of position, forcing carriers to rapidly reconfigure their networks.
Prices at hotels around Heathrow jumped, with booking sites offering rooms for $645, roughly five times the normal price levels.
"Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information," Heathrow said. "We apologise for the inconvenience."
Airline executives, electrical engineers and passengers questioned how Britain's gateway to the world could be forced to close by one fire, however large.
Heathrow and London's other major airports, have been hit by other outages in recent years, most recently by an automated gate failure and an air traffic system meltdown, both in 2023. — Reuters