London’s Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, was temporarily shut down on Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation caused a power outage. The disruption led to the cancellation of at least 1,351 flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. At the time of the closure announcement, 120 aircraft were preparing for landing.
In an official statement, Heathrow Airport informed that operations would remain suspended for at least a day, with uncertainty regarding the exact timeline for full resumption. Even after reopening, disruptions are expected to persist for several days. The airport spokesperson emphasized that passenger and staff safety remains the top priority and confirmed that Heathrow would remain closed until 11:59 PM on March 21. Travelers were advised to avoid the airport while efforts to resolve the issue were underway.
The fire broke out late Friday night at an electrical substation in West London, approximately 1.5 miles from the airport, leading to a complete power outage at Heathrow. The incident raised concerns over the airport’s backup power system. However, authorities clarified that while a backup system exists, the process of restoring full operations requires time, including rebooting and ensuring proper functioning of various critical systems. The power outage also affected nearly 5,000 homes in the surrounding area, with around 150 people being relocated for safety.
According to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, more than 16,000 homes initially lost electricity due to the fire. Heathrow Airport, the largest in the UK, handles over 1,300 daily flights and served more than 80 million passengers in the past year. The unexpected closure has caused widespread disruptions, highlighting the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to power failures. Authorities are working urgently to restore normal operations while minimizing inconvenience to passengers.
