Heathrow’s chair has ordered an internal investigation into the airport’s crisis management plans and response to the power outage which forced it to close for 15 hours on Friday.
Former transport secretary Ruth Kelly – who is a member of Heathrow’s board – will lead the review after more than 1,300 flights were grounded and up to 300,000 passengers were affected worldwide.
The outage – caused by a fire at a single substation in west London – has been dubbed “a huge embarrassment” by Labour peer Toby Harris, who leads the National Preparedness Commission campaign group, while the boss of supply chain firm PS Forwarding warned the shutdown had left Heathrow a “laughing stock” in the global freight community.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has separately ordered the National Energy System Operator to “urgently investigate” the electrical substation fire, which is expected to report its findings within six weeks.
Despite the airport saying it was “fully operational” once again on Saturday, at least 100 more flights had been cancelled as of 3pm. However, British Airways – whose main hub is Heathrow – said it expected to have a “near-full” schedule on Sunday.
Key Points
- British Airways ‘expecting near-full’ schedule at Heathrow on Sunday
- Heathrow orders internal probe into crisis management plans
- Heathrow a ‘laughing stock’ after 15-hour outage, warns supply chain boss
- Energy secretary Ed Miliband commissions ‘urgent’ grid operator investigation
- Another 100 Heathrow flights cancelled on Saturday
- ‘No comment’: Heathrow chief executive asked if should lose his job
Cancellations at Heathrow dwindle
08:00 , Holly EvansCompared with the 1,300-plus cancellations at London Heathrow on Friday, with a further 100 on Saturday, Sunday is beginning well at the UK’s busiest airport.
British Airways, which has been harder hit than all other airlines combined by the closure on Friday, cancelled eight inbound long-haul arrivals as a result of the widespread diversions. From the US, single flights from Boston, Chicago and New York JFK are grounded.
The Airbus A380 from Dubai and other flights from Riyadh, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo and Cape Town were also cancelled.Virgin Atlantic has a single inbound cancellation, from Johannesburg.
A full programme of departures is expected to operate, with some delays. The Vietnam Airlines flight to Hanoi is currently over five hours late.
Power play: how the Heathrow shutdown hit passengers at home and away
07:43 , Holly EvansWriting in his column The Man Who Pays His Way this morning, travel correspondent Simon Calder warns of the reputational damage to Heathrow airport – and the wider UK – could be long lasting.
Each of the quarter-million passengers whose travel plans were wrecked by the sudden closure of Heathrow airport on Friday simply wanted to reach the destination on their ticket. There was no good way to learn that wasn’t going to happen due to a fire in an electricity substation that had cut power to Europe’s busiest airport.
Beyond the personal stories of upset, the airlines are seething. The collective financial hit from lost revenue, care costs and the expense of retrieving aircraft from the many and various locations where they landed in a hurry on Friday morning is, I estimate conservatively, £100m. More than half of that loss will be sustained by British Airways.
Read the full analysis here from our travel correspondent Simon Calder:
Power play: how the Heathrow shutdown hit passengers at home and away
Heathrow to operate full schedule of over 1,300 flights on Sunday
07:24 , Holly EvansA Heathrow spokesperson said the airport is expecting to operate a “full schedule of over 1,300 flights” on Sunday, following the power outage that shut the airport on Friday.
A statement said: “Today we will operate another full schedule of over 1,300 flights.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused by our decision to close the airport on Friday following a significant fire at an off-site power sub station.
“Yesterday, we served more than 250,000 passengers, with punctual flights and almost all passengers waiting less than five minutes for security.
“We have welcomed the Government’s announcement of an investigation into the cause and response to the off-airport power outage and have launched a review, to be chaired by former Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, of Heathrow’s response. While these inquiries are ongoing, our focus remains on serving our passengers.”
What rights do you have to flight compensation?
07:00 , Andy GregoryHeathrow Airport on Friday experienced a complete shutdown due to a severe fire, disrupting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Airlines are obligated to provide care for stranded passengers, including meals and accommodations, but are not required to offer compensation as the fire was beyond their control, writes Simon Calder.
Heathrow airport: What rights do you have to compensation if your plane is cancelled?
What is the economic effect of Heathrow shutdown?
06:01 , Andy GregoryEconomist Stephen Rooney said: “In terms of what's at stake, at the conservative end, we estimate a potential loss of tourism revenue amounting to £4.8m per day.
“We can estimate this loss based on typical inbound arrivals volumes that come to the UK through Heathrow and the average daily spend of those travelling.”
He said his estimates did not include the potential loss of earnings of airport and airline staff, lost income for airport retail and ancillary services such as airport taxis.
Insurance payouts, lost money for affected passengers and other costs to airlines involved would further inflate the damage.
Watch: How fire near Heathrow sparked a day of global travel chaos
05:00 , Andy GregoryBride-to-be describes 'insane' disruption to wedding after two years of planning
04:00 , Andy Gregory"It has been absolutely insane", Amber Roden, a US citizen getting married in three days' time told Reuters, after a number of her relatives had their flights cancelled.
Two relatives who were halfway to London from Atlanta had to turn around and go back, she told the news agency, while two others will not make it to the UK until the day of the wedding, which she has been planning for two years.
Neso will ‘not hesitate to take action’ if breaches found
03:30 , Namita SinghThe National Energy System Operator (Neso) is expected to report to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Ofgem with initial findings of the investigation into power outage at the Heathrow airport within six weeks.
Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said it would "not hesitate to take action" if the review found any breaches of standards or licence obligations”.
Households and businesses should be able to have confidence in the resilience of critical national infrastructure, and Ofgem will work with the government and others to ensure Neso's review goes as far as possible to ensuring steps are put in place to avoid any repeat of an incident of this scale in the future," he added.
Passengers remain nervous after outage
03:00 , Andy GregorySeveral passengers travelling to Heathrow from London's Paddington Station were still nervous, the Reuters news agency reports.
“I'm just hoping that when I get there, I can actually go,” said university professor Melissa Graboyes, who said she was repeatedly checking the status of her flight to Toronto.
Heathrow airport returning to normal as investigations ordered into power outage
02:58 , Namita SinghAn investigation into the power outage caused by a substation fire that shut Heathrow has been ordered after about 200,000 passengers were affected by the airport's closure.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has ordered the National Energy System Operator to "urgently investigate" the power outage caused by a substation fire, and is working with Ofgem and using powers under the Energy Act to formally launch the grid operator's investigation.
Meanwhile, an internal review of the airport's crisis management plans and its response to Friday's power outage will be undertaken by former transport secretary Ruth Kelly, who is an independent member of Heathrow's board, Heathrow chairman Lord Paul Deighton said.
As he ordered the investigation on Saturday, Mr Miliband said: "We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.
"That is why, working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the National Energy System Operator to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future."
The government is determined to do everything it can to prevent a repeat of what happened at Heathrow."
Full report: Urgent probe ordered into power outage branded ‘national embarrassment’
02:02 , Andy GregoryMinisters have ordered an urgent probe into the substation fire which forced Heathrow airport to close for 15 hours on Friday – as experts warned the remarkable meltdown had “embarrassed” Britain on the global stage.
The travel plans of up to 300,000 passengers were cast into disarray on Friday after the blaze at a single west London substation grounded more than 1,300 flights between Europe’s busiest airport and locations across the globe.
While the airport declared itself “fully operational” once again on Saturday - with hundreds of extra airport staff rallied to facilitate an additional 10,000 passengers travelling through Heathrow - more than 100 flights were cancelled, including those travelling to New York and arriving from Dubai. Heathrow would typically expect to facilitate 600 flights on Saturday.
Read our full report on Saturday’s developments here:
Heathrow airport: Urgent probe into outage which was branded ‘national embarrassment’
Watch: Passengers stranded at Heathrow Airport after substation fire describe chaotic scenes
01:05 , Andy GregoryTravellers to be late to friend's wedding in Cambodia after Heathrow outage
00:16 , PAFarah Rafeeq, 24, was due to travel with Singapore Airlines on Friday from Heathrow with her 32-year-old friend Niken Wulan, to another friend’s wedding in Cambodia on Sunday.
The mass cancellation of flights means they will now miss part of the ceremony.
They found an alternative flight from Gatwick airport with Turkish Airlines and Bangkok Airways that will get them to Cambodia for Sunday afternoon.
Ms Rafeeq, who works in climate project management, told the PA news agency from Gatwick on Saturday: “The last few hours have been nightmarish because it is one of our closest friends' wedding and we have to travel for at least 20 hours to get there.
“We had to pay double the amount, between £600 and £700, for the new flight, and we had planned this trip for months and had hotels booked and are flying to South-east Asia after the wedding.”
Heathrow chief says airport forced to rely upon two remaining substations after outage
Saturday 22 March 2025 23:29 , Andy GregoryHeathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said a back-up transformer failed during the power outage on Friday, meaning systems had to be closed in accordance with safety procedures so that power supplies could be restructured from two remaining substations to restore enough electricity to power what is described as a “mid-sized city”.
He apologised to stranded passengers and defended the airport's response to the situation, saying the incident is as “as big as it gets for our airport” and that “we cannot guard ourselves 100 per cent”.
Outage believed to be Heathrow's worst disruption since 2010
Saturday 22 March 2025 22:41 , PAHeathrow is Europe’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024, and around 200,000 passengers have been affected by Friday’s closure.
This is believed to be the worst disruption at Heathrow since December 2010, when thousands of Christmas getaway passengers camped in the terminals because of widespread cancellations caused by snow.
In April of that year, air travel was grounded across Europe because of an ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcanic eruption.
Disruption expected over coming days, says UK transport secretary
Saturday 22 March 2025 21:52 , Andy GregoryThe UK’s transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “This incident caused significant disruption but Heathrow, National Grid, and our emergency services have worked swiftly to get people travelling again.
“Heathrow is a massive airport that uses the energy of a small city, so it's imperative we identify how this power failure happened and learn from this to ensure a vital piece of national infrastructure remains strong.
“Whilst Heathrow is back to business, some disruption is expected over coming days as things get back to normal so I encourage anyone travelling to check with their airlines and plan their journeys.”
British Airways expects 'near-full' schedule on Sunday
Saturday 22 March 2025 21:48 , Andy GregoryBritish Airways – whose main hub is Heathrow – said it expected to have a “near-full” schedule on Sunday.
The flagship carrier said it had operated around 90 per cent of its schedule at Heathrow on Saturday, after chief executive Sean Doyle on Friday warned the “huge impact” of Friday’s outage would last for days.
As of 3pm on Saturday, Heathrow’s live arrivals and departures boards showed that more than 100 flights had been cancelled since Saturday morning.
What caused the fire at Healthrow Airport?
Saturday 22 March 2025 21:08 , Andy GregoryA transformer at the substation caught fire at Heathrow Airport shutting airport for a day on Friday. However, it is not yet known what caused it.
One nearby resident described their room shaking and hearing a loud bang as the substation caught fire.
London Fire Brigade deputy commissioner Jonathan Smith said: “The fire involved a transformer comprising 25,000 litres of its cooling oil fully alight.
“This created a major hazard owing to the still live high-voltage equipment and the nature of an oil-fuelled fire.”
Stranded passengers find innovative ways to workaround Heathrow shutdown
Saturday 22 March 2025 20:24 , Andy GregoryPhillip Kizun had to devise a new route on Friday after his flight from London to Dublin was cancelled due to the outage at Heathrow.
Mr Kizun, 58, took a train to Wales and boarded a ferry from Holyhead to reach the Irish capital, meeting several European and American travellers making similar last-minute changes.
“It was an absolute real ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’” he told The New York Times, referencing the 1987 Steve Martin-John Candy comedy, shortly after arriving in Dublin for work.
The outage, caused by a fire at an energy substation near Heathrow, forced the airport to shut down for much of the day, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Heathrow ‘regrets’ disruption caused by outage, chair says
Saturday 22 March 2025 19:48 , Andy GregoryAnnouncing the internal probe into Heathrow’s crisis management plans, the airport’s chair Lord Paul Deighton said: “Closing the airport yesterday had significant impacts for our passengers, our customers, our colleagues and the country.
“Heathrow regrets the disruption this caused. We hope that all those affected understand that the decision was made in order to prioritise the safety of our passengers and colleagues.
“We are committed to finding any potential learnings from this unprecedented incident.
“To fully understand what happened, I have asked Ruth Kelly, former secretary of state for transport and an independent member of Heathrow’s Board, to undertake a review.
“The Kelly Review will analyse all of the relevant material concerning the robustness and execution of Heathrow’s crisis management plans, the airport’s response during the incident and how the airport recovered the operation with the objective of identifying any improvements that could be made to our future resilience.”
Breaking: Heathrow orders internal probe into crisis management plans
Saturday 22 March 2025 19:21 , Andy GregoryFormer transport secretary Ruth Kelly – who is a member of Heathrow’s board – will undertake a review of the airport’s crisis management plans and its response to Friday’s outage, the airport’s chair Lord Paul Deighton has announced.
Passenger praises ‘fantastic’ response to Heathrow crisis
Saturday 22 March 2025 19:15 , Andy GregoryAn American tourist praised his airline’s and Heathrow’s “fantastic” response to the disruption.
Speaking at the airport, holidaymaker Tim Kolb, who travelled from Dallas, Texas, told the PA news agency: “I was just getting ready to board the plane on Thursday night, and the news actually started coming across on our phones quicker than on the desk.
“But American Airlines did a fabulous job – we didn't have to wait in the line or anything. They got us our accommodation reservation.”
Mr Kolb, 55, added: “I thought I was going to be there delayed two days, but I went over yesterday. It was organised well, in fact, they had several planes leaving within an hour of each other to Heathrow.”
UK's key infrastructure vulnerable, says expert
Saturday 22 March 2025 18:01 , Jane DaltonA former intelligence officer in the British military said Heathrow's inability to keep operating after the power cut exposed vulnerability in Britain's critical national infrastructure.
"It is a wake-up call," said Philip Ingram. "There is no way that Heathrow should be taken out completely because of a failure in one power substation."
Willie Walsh, the head of the global airlines body IATA and a former head of British Airways, said Heathrow had let passengers down.
Heathrow said it had diesel generators and uninterruptible power supplies in place to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely.
Those systems all operated as expected. But with the airport consuming as much energy as a small city, it said it could not run all its operations safely on back-up systems.
In pictures: Smouldering scenes as LFB take over Hayes substation investigation
Saturday 22 March 2025 17:29 , Barney Davis
London Fire Brigade take over investigation from Met Police
Saturday 22 March 2025 17:01 , Barney DavisAfter the Metropolitan Police confirmed the fire is believed to be “non-suspicious”, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) announced it is now leading the investigation which will now focus on the electrical distribution equipment in Hayes.
The LFB said the investigation to establish the exact cause could take weeks.
Commenting on the incident, London Fire Brigade Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Smith said: “London Fire Brigade received 212 calls to a fire in a high voltage substation near Heathrow Airport.
"The fire involved a transformer comprising 25,000 litres of its cooling oil fully alight. This created a major hazard owing to the still live high voltage equipment and the nature of an oil fuelled fire.
"Ten fire engines, two Bulk Foam Units and one High Volume Pump were on scene at the peak of the incident – this equates to approximately 70 London Fire Brigade personnel.
"Our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging and hazardous conditions overnight to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible.
"Firefighters safely evacuated 29 people from neighbouring properties, and as a precaution, a 200-metre cordon was established. Working with the Met police, around 150 people were evacuated to a rest centre. The majority of those people have been able to return to their homes.”
LFB will maintain a small presence on scene for the coming days to ensure any remaining hot-spots within the electrical equipment are fully extinguished.
Heathrow boss says airport will ‘support every effort’ to investigate cause of shutdown
Saturday 22 March 2025 16:45 , Andy GregoryHeathrow’s chief executive has welcomed the announcement of an independent investigation into the electrical substation fire that forced the airport’s closure on Friday.
In a statement, Thomas Woldbye, said: “We welcome the National Energy System Operator’s investigation into yesterday's National Grid electrical substation fire and on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure more broadly.
“We will support every effort to understand the causes and impacts of yesterday's off-airport incident and we are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure a thorough investigation to help strengthen the airport's future resilience.”
Heathrow Express will be closed Sunday morning
Saturday 22 March 2025 16:01 , Barney DavisIn a double blow for travellers, the Heathrow Express has announced it will also be out of action tomorrow morning for upgrade work.
A Heathrow Express spokesperson said: “A gentle reminder: Due to planned railway upgrade work, Heathrow Express will be running a reduced service on Sunday, 23 March, with no service before 9.12am.”
'No repeats of Heathrow fire' Ed Miliband determined to learn lesson
Saturday 22 March 2025 15:21 , Barney DavisWorking with Ofgem, Ed Miliband is using Energy Act powers to formally launch the investigation. This follows the action taken yesterday to restore power to all affected customers.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The loss of power to the Heathrow area has caused major disruption to thousands of people and many businesses. We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.
“That is why working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the National Energy System Operator to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future.
“The government is determined to do everything it can to prevent a repeat of what happened at Heathrow. This review will be an important step in helping us to do so, as we deliver our Plan for Change.”
Energy Secretary commissions NESO investigation into power loss impacting Heathrow
Saturday 22 March 2025 15:17 , Kate DevlinThe Energy Secretary has today commissioned the independent National Energy System Operator to urgently investigate the power outage incident that impacted Heathrow Airport and the surrounding area.
Working with Ofgem, Ed Miliband is using Energy Act powers to formally launch the investigation. This follows the action taken yesterday to restore power to all affected customers.
NESO’s investigation will support efforts to build a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding this incident and the UK’s energy resilience more broadly so that it’s prevented from ever happening again.
The government’s Plan for Change is rebuilding Britain’s resilience, including boosting the country’s energy security with homegrown power. Separately, the resilience review led by the Cabinet Office is ongoing and is due to conclude in the Spring.
More than 30 flights cancelled despite claims Heathrow 'fully operational'
Saturday 22 March 2025 15:10 , Barney DavisAlthough Heathrow Airport is now "fully operational" dozens of arriving flights have still been cancelled, according to Heathrow's live departure board.
It showed 34 flights that were due to leave the airport today have been cancelled including domestic destinations and international flights to New York and Paris.
And according to Heathrow's live arrivals board, 71 flights expected to arrive on Saturday have been cancelled including flights from Dubai and Doha.
'It was certainly secure' National Grid chief
Saturday 22 March 2025 14:53 , Barney DavisFirefighters and workers were still at the burned out electricity substation on Saturday morning.
Alice Delahunty, president of National Grid Electricity Transmission, told The Times: “We don’t actually know anything at this stage about what’s caused it. Clearly the investigation that will follow will need to look at resilience.”
Asked about security at the site, which is surrounded by low metal fences, she said: “We have a number of very strict protocols — remote monitoring; security is something we take very seriously. The site is certainly secured.”
The Hayes substation is the only source that can power full operations at Heathrow.
‘Full investigation as soon as possible’ says top hotelier
Saturday 22 March 2025 14:26 , Simon CalderThe leading hotelier in the Heathrow area, Surinder Arora, has described the airport’s shutdown as “an embarrassment for the whole nation”.
The founder and chairman of the Arora Group said: “This matter has been an embarrassment for the whole nation and we welcome the Chair of the Transport Select Committee [Ruth Cadbury MP] suggesting this will be a matter for her committee to launch an inquiry into.
“Given the number of serious questions that need to be answered, a full investigation must be held at the earliest opportunity and at the heart of that must be how Heathrow can be so reliant on any single site or source for power.
“The Arora Group has questioned the capabilities of Heathrow’s management for many years and this is the latest exposure of showing how charging airlines and passengers the highest airport fees in the world does not tally with the best airport operations in the world.”
The sentiment was echoed by Lord Toby Harris, who heads the National Preparedness Commission. He told Channel 4: “It’s a huge embarrassment for the country that a fire in one electricity substation can have such a devastating effect.”
Jason Bona, owner of supply chain company PS Forwarding, told the Today programme the incident made Heathrow a "laughing stock" in the global freight community.
'Stress' as school trip affected by cancellations
Saturday 22 March 2025 14:22 , Barney DavisA woman accompanying a school trip from the US said flight cancellations at Heathrow on Saturday had resulted in a “stressful” end to the journey.
Speaking at the airport, Christine Eckles, 50, said: “It was a delay at first, a three-hour delay, and then we found out our flight to Chicago was cancelled.
“We’re having to work on how to get a new flight out with British Airways.”
Ms Eckles, who is accompanying students from Iowa, added: “It’s been stressful.
“We’re at the end of our trip and we have had a wonderful time in London and Paris, and everybody’s ready to go home and back to their spring break.”
'Planes, trains and automobiles' Travellers improvise routes to avoid Heathrow chaos
Saturday 22 March 2025 14:00 , Barney DavisPhillip Kizun found himself having to freestyle as he tried to urgently get from London to Dublin for a work trip during the Heathrow fire.
After finding out that his flight was cancelled, Mr Kizun, 58, took a train to Wales and then a ferry from the coastal town of Holyhead to the Irish capital.
Along the way he told The New York Times he met several tourists undertaking the same gruelling journey.
“It was an absolute real ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’” Mr Kizun said referring to the 1987 Steve Martin-John Candy comedy.
Moment electrical substation catches fire plunging homes, hospitals and airpots into darkness
Saturday 22 March 2025 13:30 , Barney DavisBA and Virgin battle to bring planes back after diversions
Saturday 22 March 2025 13:15 , Barney DavisBritish Airways and Virgin Atlantic are still in the middle of repatriating long-haul aircraft from various European airports. The planes had been flying to London Heathrow in the early hours of Friday morning, UK time, when their pilots were told the airport was closed.
While some early diversions were allowed to land at UK airports, later in the morning captains were landing wherever space and facilities were available.
An Airbus A350 belonging to Virgin Atlantic was flying from Atlanta to Heathrow when it diverted to Shannon in the west of Ireland – where it spent over 30 hours on the ground before flying on to London.
British Airways has brought back a Boeing 777 from Frankfurt, where the flight from Doha was diverted. One BA Airbus A350 from Mumbai has returned from Zurich, where it landed after Heathrow closed.
The subsequent BA flights to Nassau and Philadelphia respectively are several hours late as a result of the diversions.
Later on Saturday, a British Airways 787 will fly the 87 miles to London Heathrow from Birmingham, where the Hong Kong flight landed on Friday morning.
Two airlines have flown from Paris CDG to London Heathrow after Friday’s diversions: a China Eastern Boeing 777 from Shanghai and a Rwandair Airbus A330 from Kigali.
ICYMI: Chief executive of Heathrow announces pride over airport handling of fire
Saturday 22 March 2025 13:01 , Barney DavisHeathrow chief Thomas Woldbye was grilled over claims that Europe's biggest airport had become a “laughing stock” after shutting down from just one fire.
But he told BBC Radio 4: “I am proud of the entire ecosystem and that's not just Heathrow, that's our handlers, our airlines, our engineers, the fire station.
“I am proud of what the people did to get us out of the situation. Don't forget the situation was not created at Heathrow Airport. It was created outside the airport and we had to deal with the consequences.”
Mr Woldbye said he would only be able to establish who was to blame for the disaster when investigators “have all the facts”.
Asked if he should lose his job, Mr Woldbye said: “No comments. I will let others judge if they think there is an issue.”
Heathrow closure to cost UK economy up to £4.8m in lost tourism
Saturday 22 March 2025 12:45 , Barney Davis“In terms of what's at stake, at the conservative end, we estimate a potential loss of tourism revenue amounting to £4.8 million per day,” economist Stephen Rooney said.
“We can estimate this loss based on typical inbound arrivals volumes that come to the UK through Heathrow and the average daily spend of those travelling.”
My colleague Karl Matchett reports:
Heathrow closure to cost UK economy up to £4.8m in lost tourism
'It was like a disaster movie'
Saturday 22 March 2025 12:02 , Barney DavisMonel Bailey was forced to walk along a traffic-jammed dual-carriageway dragging his luggage with dozens of other hopeful passengers only to be told he would not be flying to a dream shopping trip to New York.
He told The Independent: “It looked like a disaster movie at the airport today with all the people walking in the road and I was one of them.
“It was chaos. People were showing up to the airport and being sent away
“There was traffic at the end of the dual-carriageway so I had to get out of the Uber and walk up.”
He was forced to cut short his dream holiday and return on the tube to Croydon.
He later told his followers that he hadn’t been refunded for the cancelled flight, adding: “This experience has just been so exhausting and infuriating dealing with both British Airways and Heathrow airport.”
@monelbailey When you are ready for your weekend getaway to New York but the power outage fire at Heathrow Airport ruins your holiday 😞 #fyp #heathrowairport #britishairways #london #monelbailey
♬ Anxiety - Doechii
'It's been nightmarish' Londoner dashing to Cambodia to avoid missing wedding
Saturday 22 March 2025 11:35 , Barney DavisA London woman has said she is frustrated to miss part of her close friend’s wedding after the fire which closed Heathrow airport’s transport hub on Friday.
Farah Rafeeq, 24, was due to travel with Singapore Airlines on Friday from Heathrow with her 32-year-old friend Niken Wulan, who is pregnant, to another friend’s wedding in Cambodia on Sunday.
The mass cancellation of flights means they will now miss part of the ceremony,
They have found an alternative flight from Gatwick Airport with Turkish Airlines and Bangkok Airways that will get them to Cambodia for Sunday afternoon.
Ms Rafeeq, who works in climate project management, said: “The last few hours have been nightmarish because it is one of our closest friends’ wedding and we have to travel for at least 20 hours to get there.
“We had to pay double the amount, between £600 and £700, for the new flight, and we had planned this trip for months and had hotels booked and are flying to South-east Asia after the wedding.
“We are missing the morning ceremony but at least we can make it for the reception.”
Secretary of State for Transport's relief as Heathrow Airport return to full operations
Saturday 22 March 2025 11:30 , Barney DavisPassengers urge others to book flights in one transaction to avoid delays
Saturday 22 March 2025 11:20 , Barney DavisA passenger at Heathrow airport said purchasing their flights in one booking had helped them avoid the worst of the disruption when a nearby fire closed the airport on Friday.
Rob Walford, 74, said: “We were in Nice with friends and we were due to fly into Heathrow yesterday.
“We were going to stay the night and then catch our flight to San Diego, so obviously, we didn’t do that.
“The wisest thing we did, though, while in Nice was take the tram to the airport and then rebook us first thing this morning. If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be here.
“The British Airways desk sorted it out: we’ve got a flight this morning that wasn’t going to be cancelled, so now we’re good.”
Speaking at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, Mr Walford, who lives in California, added: “Here’s the thing, if you book a flight, make it all one (journey) because I booked the flights separately when we came.
“We were going to do the same thing last night, but didn’t do it again and here we are, and in about 15 hours, we’ll be home.”
Virgin Atlantic apologises for continued disruption
Saturday 22 March 2025 10:43 , Barney DavisA statement from Virgin Atlantic released on Saturday morning said: "Heathrow Airport has fully reopened and we plan to run a near full schedule with limited cancellations today.
The airline adds that Heathrow Airport's closure yesterday has left an "impact on today's flying programme", including the repositioning of aircraft and crews.
“We're incredibly sorry for any disruption to our customer’s journeys and we are working to ensure customers affected can complete their journeys as quickly as possible.”
London Heathrow flights cancelled by airline on Friday
Saturday 22 March 2025 10:34 , Barney DavisBritish Airways - 677
Virgin Atlantic - 62
Lufthansa - 42
American Airlines - 40
Aer Lingus- 38
United Airlines - 34
SAS - 28
Total: 1,332
Source: CH-Aviation
In pictures: Passengers start to flood back through 'operational' Heathrow Airport
Saturday 22 March 2025 10:22 , Barney Davis
Mayor of London issues Heathrow update
Saturday 22 March 2025 10:12 , Barney DavisMayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged passengers to check with their airlines before making their way to Heathrow.
He posted on X: “Flights have resumed at Heathrow following yesterday’s power outage.
“Operations are returning to normal. I know this has been frustrating, and I want to thank emergency services, Heathrow staff, and engineers for their efforts.
“I’ll remain in close contact with the relevant authorities as the situation develops.”
National Grid apologises and says power restored
Saturday 22 March 2025 10:02 , Barney DavisPower supplies have been restored to all customers connected to National Grid UK’s North Hyde substation.
A National Grid Spokesman said: “Power supplies have been restored to all customers connected to our North Hyde substation, including Heathrow, allowing operations to resume at the airport.
“We are now implementing measures to help further improve the resilience levels of our network.
“We are deeply sorry for the disruption caused and are continuing to work closely with the Government, Heathrow and the police to understand the cause of the incident.”
‘Dream birthday’ dashed by airport fire
Saturday 22 March 2025 10:01 , Namita SinghEllen Deasy, 29, was surprised by her cousin Jenna with a holiday to Venice for her 30th birthday but had to settle on Portsmouth instead.
With dreams of gelato and gondoliers dashed by the Heathrow Airport fire, she told The Independent: “We woke up at about 3.30am and the first thing we saw were pictures of this fireball and the headlines.
“We were planning on riding the gondolas, eating some pasta and having some ice cream, but now we are going to Portsmouth.
“I was so excited. It would have been a dream birthday but now my thirties haven’t started in the way I hoped.”
Some BA business-class passengers face squeeze
Saturday 22 March 2025 09:51 , Simon CalderBritish Airways has temporarily suspended its “empty middle seat” policy in business class on flights within the UK and between London Heathrow and Dublin.
Seats on BA short-haul aircraft are identical in business and economy. To offer premium passengers an improved service in the business-class portion of the plane, normally the middle seat in each row of three is left empty.
But in order to carry as many passengers as possible on domestic flights and the key Heathrow-Dublin route, the middle seat will now be occupied.
The move will increase capacity by around two dozen extra seats on each flight.
British Airways did the same in the aftermath of the Nats air-traffic control failure in August 2023.
'Typical England' American blasts lack of contingency at Heathrow
Saturday 22 March 2025 09:34 , Barney DavisMark Doherty and his wife were halfway across the Atlantic when the inflight map showed their flight from New York to Heathrow was turning around.
“I was like, you’re joking,” Mr Doherty said before the pilot told passengers they were heading back to JFK airport.
He told ABC News: “Typical England — got no back-up plan for something happens like this. There’s no contingency plan.”
'Worst disruption for 15 years'
Saturday 22 March 2025 09:23 , Barney DavisHeathrow is Europe’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.
But Friday’s fire is believed to be the worst disruption at Heathrow since December 2010, when thousands of Christmas getaway passengers camped in the terminals because of widespread cancellations caused by snow.
In April of that year, air travel was grounded across Europe because of an ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcanic eruption.
'Fire not suspicious' Police say after initial assessment
Saturday 22 March 2025 09:12 , Barney DavisCounter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police have been leading the investigation into the cause of the fire, which did not result in any casualties at the scene.
“After initial assessment, we are not treating this incident as suspicious, although inquiries do remain ongoing,” Commander Simon Messinger said.
Thousands of homes were left without power and more than 100 people were evacuated after a transformer within the substation caught fire.
Heathrow explains power failure
Saturday 22 March 2025 09:02Heathrow Airport has explained why the backup generator could not power the whole airport.
It said: “We have multiple sources of energy into Heathrow. But when a source is interrupted, we have back-up diesel generators and uninterruptable power supplies in place, and they all operated as expected.
“Our back-up systems are safety systems which allow us to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely, but they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation.
“As the busiest airport in Europe, Heathrow uses as much energy as a small city, therefore it’s not possible to have backup for all of the energy we need to run our operation safely.
“We are implementing a process which will allow us to redirect power to the affected areas, but this is a safety-critical process which takes time, and maintaining safety remains our priority, so we have taken the decision to close the airport for today.”
‘It could be days before passengers are sorted out’ says Transport Select Committee chair
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:52 , Simon CalderRuth Cadbury, chair of the Transport Select Committee, has been speaking exclusively to The Independent.
“Like everyone I feel most for the 200,000-old passengers who were affected – but also the airline and airport staff who have to deal with the frustration and stress of all those passengers who either need to get home or have to get to weddings, funerals, to start a holiday.
“All of those people who were due to fly yesterday and are still planning to make that journey – it could be days before they’re sorted out.”
Ms Cadbury, who is Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth in west London, said questions about the resilience of the electricity supply in the area needed to be answered.
“We don’t actually know whether the issue is the responsibility of Heathrow airport or National Grid infrastructure,” she said.
“We have a grid capacity challenge in outer west London due to a lack of enhancements coming in, and the data centres – of which we have a cluster – taking so much power.
“Hopefully in the days or weeks to come, we will know more.”
'No comment' Heathrow Chief Executive asked if should lose his job
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:52 , Barney DavisAsked if anyone should be fired for this, Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’ll look back at that when I have all the details.
“Right now our focus is to make sure our passengers are safe and secure, that the airport is operating as it should so we can get aircraft in the air and get our passengers travelling.”
Asked if he should still be in his role, he said bluntly: “No comment to that. I’ll let others judge if they think that’s an issue.”
'I'm proud of what people did' Heathrow boss fights back
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:46 , Barney DavisResponding to the accusation that Heathrow is a “laughing stock” after one fire closed the airport, Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said: “Personally I am quite proud of the entire eco-system - our airlines, our handlers.
“People got us out of the situation which was created outside of the airport.
“There will be questions but I don’t know of an airport that has back up supply that can switch on in minutes of the magnitude we saw yesterday. The same would happen in other airports.”
He said he would establish the facts before blaming anyone for the outage.
'We were shut for hours, not days'
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:42 , Barney DavisHeathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye has admitted he was shocked by the “unprecedented” fire and said he would look at the “resilience” of Europe’s busiest airport.
He told the BBC’s Today programme: “The incident yesterday was major it was no small thing. It takes time to reset the airport. “But remember hospitals and homes and other areas went down.
“We have three substations that power different sections of the airport. But when one goes down entirely, which is unprecedented and we have to live with the consequences.
“The airport shut not for days, but for hours because we had to reroute our power supply that requires taking down systems and powering them up again.
“We will learn from this and will ask do we need another level of resilience if we can’t trust the grid around us is working the way it should.”
'Heathrow uses as much energy as a city every day' Airport boss explains back-up power failure
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:31 , Barney DavisHeathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye told the BBC’s Today programme: “We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience that passengers have experienced.”
He said the power substation that caught fire was not part of Heathrow’s infrastructure.
“All our backup systems were up and running, our tower was running but our systems are not designed to power the entire airport. We would need a seperate standby powerplant on site and we don’t have that.
“Heathrow uses as much energy as a city every day. We don’t have backup power for fuel systems, bridges and so on.”
He added: “Everything comes to a standstill when we need to reset as we did yesterday.”
'Airlines will handle stranded passengers' Heathrow boss
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:25 , Barney DavisAsked about reports disruptions could bleed into next week, Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye told the BBC’s Today programme: “There are no disruptions to airport operations.
“Airlines, ofcourse, have tales of stranded passengers who need repatriation and so on and they will handle that.
“But the airport itself is running as normal.”
'We will handle delays as we normally do' Heathrow chief executive
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:22 , Barney DavisHeathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye has told the BBC’s Today programme in an update on Saturday morning: “We don’t expect any major flights to be delayed we are operating as normal.
“On any busy day, as today is, not just because of yesterday there are some cancellations and delays and we are handling them as we normaly do.”
Texan hails 'fantastic' airline response as he finally touches down in Heathrow
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:14 , Barney DavisAn American tourist has praised his airline’s and Heathrow’s “fantastic” response to a fire that closed the transport hub on Friday.
Speaking at Heathrow, Tim Kolb, who travelled to the UK on holiday from Dallas, Texas, he said: “I was just getting ready to board the plane on Thursday night, and the news actually started coming across on our phones quicker than on the (airport) desk.
“But American Airlines did a fabulous job – we didn’t have to wait in the line or anything. They got us our accommodation reservation.”
Mr Kolb, 55, added: “I thought I was going to be there delayed two days, but I went over yesterday.
“It was organised well. In fact, they had several planes leaving within an hour of each other to Heathrow.
“The way everybody responded and fell into action, it was fantastic.”
Heathrow airport security will ‘be challenging, but manageable’
Saturday 22 March 2025 08:01 , Simon CalderWith planes departing from London Heathrow expected to be packed, airlines have been told by the airport management to expect long security queues.
After around 120,000 outbound passengers were unable to depart on Friday, every seat on every aircraft is likely to be filled.
On average in normal times, one in five seats is empty.
The 6am Operational Update said: “Our three key recovery objectives are: maintaining a safe and secure operation, managing residual risks, and transitioning back to business as usual.
“Operationally, all tunnels and terminals are open, with additional resources in place to handle any issues.
“Security is expected to be challenging, but manageable. One-stop security has been postponed for today.
“Minor issues with baggage systems in Terminal 2 are being monitored.
“There are also incorrect automated announcements by London Underground and National Highways signage claiming Heathrow is closed. This is being rectified.”
Another 100 Heathrow flights cancelled on Saturday
Saturday 22 March 2025 07:50 , Simon CalderAfter more than 1,300 flights were grounded at London Heathrow, around 100 more have been axed by airlines whose flight crew and aircraft are out of position.
British Airways has cancelled almost 80 flights on Saturday after almost its entire schedule was grounded on Friday.
At least 20 long-haul inbound flights are cancelled, including four from New York JFK. Six outbound flights – to Boston, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Dubai and Riyadh – have been grounded.
Twenty BA short-haul flights serving domestic and European destinations have been grounded.
Virgin Atlantic has cancelled six inbound arrivals after the outbound flights could not operate on Friday, and the morning flight to Montego Bay in Jamaica.
Other long-haul cancellations today include one Singapore Airlines flight, WestJet to Calgary and two flights to Delhi – one on Air Canada, the other on Air India.
Turkish Airlines and Brussels Airlines have also cancelled flights to their hubs, Istanbul and Brussels.
Heathrow Airport ‘open and fully operational’
Saturday 22 March 2025 07:29 , Namita SinghA spokesperson for Heathrow said early this morning that the airport was "open and fully operational", adding: "Teams across the airport continue to do everything they can to support passengers impacted by yesterday's outage at an off-airport power substation.
"We have hundreds of additional colleagues on hand in our terminals and we have added flights to today's schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers travelling through the airport.
"Passengers travelling today should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight."
Flights begin landing at Heathrow after mass disruption
Saturday 22 March 2025 07:09 , Namita SinghFlights have begun landing at Heathrow as it aims to return to normal operation today after the airport was shut over a loss of power, with restrictions on overnight flights temporarily lifted.
Flights resumed at the west London airport yesterday evening following hours of closure after a blaze knocked out an electricity substation in Hayes late on Thursday evening.
Heathrow Airport's chief executive Thomas Woldbye told reporters on Friday afternoon: "We expect to be back in full operation (tomorrow), so 100 per cent operation as a normal day.
"(Passengers) should come to the airport as they normally would. There's no reason to come earlier."
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, British Airways (BA) flight BA56 from Johannesburg, South Africa was the first regular passenger flight to land at Heathrow since Thursday evening, touching down at 4.37am.
BA, which has a major presence at Heathrow, said it expects to operate around 85 per cent of its scheduled flights at the airport on Saturday.
Government temporarily lifts restrictions on overnight flights
Saturday 22 March 2025 06:48 , Namita SinghRestrictions on overnight flights were temporarily lifted to help ease congestion, the Department of Transport said.
According to Heathrow's website, there is no formal ban on night flights but since the 1960s, the government has placed restrictions on them.
There is an annual limit of 5,800 night-time take-offs and landings between the hours of 11.30pm and 6am as well as a nightly limit, which caps the amount of noise the airport can make at night.
Passengers to face more delays as Heathrow aims to return to normal operation
Saturday 22 March 2025 06:41Passengers will continue to face delays and cancellations as Heathrow aims to return to normal operation today after the airport was shut over a loss of power, with restrictions on overnight flights temporarily lifted.
Flights resumed at the west London airport yesterday evening following hours of closure after a blaze knocked out an electricity substation in Hayes late on Thursday evening.
The Metropolitan Police are not treating the incident as suspicious and the London Fire Brigade's investigation is focusing on the electrical distribution equipment.
Heathrow Airport's chief executive Thomas Woldbye told reporters on yesterday afternoon: "We expect to be back in full operation (tomorrow), so 100 per cent operation as a normal day."(Passengers) should come to the airport as they normally would. There's no reason to come earlier."
But British Airways, which has a major presence at Heathrow, said it expects to operate around 85 per cent of its scheduled flights at the airport today.
The airline would usually expect to run nearly 600 departures and arrivals today but it is understood cancellations will be made, where possible, to high-frequency routes.
A spokesperson said: "We are planning to operate as many flights as possible to and from Heathrow on Saturday, but to recover an operation of our size after such a significant incident is extremely complex.
"We expect around 85 per cent of our Saturday Heathrow schedule to run, but it is likely that all travelling customers will experience delays as we continue to navigate the challenges posed by Friday's power outage at the airport."
How many passengers were affected?
Saturday 22 March 2025 06:00 , Namita SinghUp to 291,000 passengers were set to fly from Heathrow airport yesterday, with 1,330 flights scheduled throughout the day, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Up to 665 departures were scheduled, equating to over 145,094 seats, and 669 flights were due to arrive, equating to 145,836 seats.
British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle said the event would have a huge impact on customers in the coming days.
“To give you an idea of the scale of disruption we face which we’re working to minimise, today we were due to operate more than 670 flights carrying around 107,000 customers, with similar numbers planned over the weekend,” he said.
EasyJet said it was putting larger aircraft on key routes on Friday and over the weekend to provide additional seats to help customers affected by the Heathrow closure.
Ryanair has also put on extra flights from Dublin to London Stansted "to rescue passengers affected by today’s Heathrow closure”.
