Flights were diverted to airports in France, Ireland and Germany on Friday after a fire at an electricity substation in west London forced a full-day shutdown of Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport.
More than 70 firefighters tackled the blaze at the North Hyde substation in Hayes on Thursday night. The fire was brought under control in the early hours of Friday morning.
"The fire has caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses," said Pat Goulbourne, London Fire Brigade's assistant commissioner.
National Grid UK, which oversees the country's power supply, said in a statement it was "working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible".
Heathrow Airport said on Friday it expected major disruption even once power is restored.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow for the full day on Friday. Passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
Busiest January
Earlier this year, Heathrow recorded its busiest January on record, with more than 6.3 million passengers — up more than 5 percent on the same period last year.
January also marked the 11th month in a row that the airport averaged more than 200,000 passengers a day. Airport chiefs said transatlantic routes were a big factor.
When the closure was announced, some 120 flights were in the air heading to Heathrow.
Qantas diverted its Singapore–London QF1 and Perth–London QF9 flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle. The airline said passengers would be taken to London by bus.
United Airlines said seven of its flights either turned back or were sent to other airports. It cancelled all flights to Heathrow scheduled for Friday.
At least two flights from Taiwan to London were affected, the island’s Central News Agency reported.
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A China Airlines flight returned to Taiwan mid-route, while an EVA Air flight made its planned stop in Bangkok as the airline assessed the situation.
Singapore Airlines said on the X social media platform that its overnight flight to London was diverted to Frankfurt.
British Airways said in a statement that the closure of its main hub would have a significant impact on its operations.
"We're working as quickly as possible to update passengers on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond," the statement added.
Situated 25 kilometres west of central London, Heathrow serves 200 destinations in more than 80 countries, with passengers having access to four terminals.
Gatwick, Britain's second busiest airport, said it would accept some flights from Heathrow.
"We are aware of the situation at Heathrow Airport today and are supporting as required. Flights from London Gatwick are operating as normal today," it said on X.
