Around 120 flights flying from around the world to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) have been forced to divert to alternative airfields after a major fire at an electricity substation close to the West London airport knocked out power and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of nearby residents.
Flights that were meant to be landing at Heathrow on Friday morning after overnight flights from destinations as far afield as Johannesburg, Miami, and Perth were forced to divert to airports across Europe, including Paris Charles de Gaulle and Munich as the full scale of the incident became apparent.
According to some estimates, more than 1,350 flights could be canceled as a result of the all-day closure at what is the fourth busiest airport in the world, serving more than 50 million in 2024.
The cause of the blaze at an electricity substation in Hayes, around one and a half miles north of the airport, has yet to be established. In a statement, the London Fire Brigade said it had sent at least 70 firefighters to tackle the blaze, while police have evacuated local residents who live on the airport’s doorstep.
The LFB urged people living around the airport to keep their windows closed as the fire produced large amounts of smoke that billowed high into the sky above the airfield.
In a statement posted to the social media platform X, Heathrow Airport said: “Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage.”
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.”
The airport warned passengers hoping to travel from Heathrow on Friday “not to travel to the airport” under any circumstances.
A so-called ‘Notice to Air Men’ issued by British aviation authorities warned pilots that Heathrow was shuttered “due to a major incident in the local vicinity affecting power supply.”
Airlines are likely to deem the incident an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ which will exempt them from paying passengers compensation for any delay they incur as a result of the all-day closure.
However, under British law, airlines are still required to provide support to affected passengers by offering refreshments and hotel accommodation for overnight delays.
Due to the large-scale nature of the incident, which will affect hundreds of thousands of passengers, airlines will quickly run out of pre-booked hotel accommodation, and customers will be expected to book their own rooms and reclaim ‘reasonable’ costs from the carrier.
Delays are also expected to drag on for several days, especially for British Airways, because pilots, flight attendants and aircraft will be out of position.
