Britain’s Heathrow Airport shut down Friday after a major fire at a nearby electrical substation cut power to the facility, disrupting flight schedules worldwide.
Approximately 70 firefighters battled the blaze in west London, which also disabled the airport’s backup power system. Large orange flames and black smoke were visible before firefighters contained the fire. By morning, roads around Britain’s largest airport were mostly empty except for some departing passengers with luggage.
Fire investigators will examine the cause, though Energy Minister Ed Miliband indicated it didn’t appear to be foul play. Heathrow announced the airport would remain closed until midnight due to the significant power outage, affecting 1,351 scheduled flights and up to 291,000 passengers.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information,” the airport stated. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”
The fire was reported just after 11 p.m. Thursday, forced planes to divert to airports across Britain and Europe, while many long-haul flights returned to their departure points. Miliband described the fire as “catastrophic,” noting it had prevented the backup system from functioning while engineers worked to deploy a third backup solution.
Industry experts warned that passengers diverted to European airports might be confined to transit lounges if lacking proper visa documentation. The disruption will have far-reaching effects on global flight schedules as aircraft are now out of position.
“Heathrow is one of the major hubs of the world,” said Ian Petchenik from flight tracking website FlightRadar24. “This is going to disrupt airlines’ operations around the world.”
British Airways, Heathrow’s largest carrier, had 341 flights scheduled to arrive Friday. The chaos negatively impacted shares in airlines including British Airways parent IAG.
FlightRadar24 reported at least 120 inbound flights diverted early Friday morning. International flights from locations including Perth, New York, and San Francisco were rerouted to alternative destinations, while some U.S. flights turned around mid-journey.
Travel experts explained that the disruption extends beyond Heathrow itself. Airlines’ precisely coordinated networks rely on aircraft and crews being in specific locations at scheduled times, requiring dozens of carriers to reconfigure their operations quickly.
Some passengers shared their experiences on social media, including Adrian Spender who posted on X that his Airbus A380 bound for Heathrow was “currently over Austria” with no confirmed destination.
Heathrow has experienced previous outages in recent years, including an automated gate failure and air traffic system disruption in 2023. A Heathrow spokesperson indicated they expected significant disruption over the coming days with no clear timeline for power restoration.
The incident also affected residents, with the fire brigade reporting they led 29 people to safety from neighboring properties and evacuated approximately 150 people from within a 200-meter precautionary cordon.
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