Heathrow Airport in London closed on Friday after a fire in a nearby electrical substation led to an electrical interruption, and dragged on trips to tens of thousands of passengers who planned to fly inside and outside the busiest airport in Europe.
A post Heathrow Airport X account He said that the airport will close until 11:59 pm local time (7:59 ET) on Friday.
More than 600 flights were canceled inside and outside the airport, according to the flight -flight tracking site from Friday morning, increasing travel to the main center and the connection airport.
London metropolitan police said that although there was « no hint of gross play », the division against terrorism would now lead the research on the fire.
« Given the location of the substation and the impact of this incident on critical national infrastructure, the MET terrorism command now directs consultations, » the force said in a Publish in X.
« This is due to specialized resources and abilities within this command that can help progress this research at the pace to minimize interruption and identify the cause. »
« Catastrophic » fire
British Airways It was the most affected airline, with more than half of its programming on Friday canceled.
« Heathrow is experiencing significant paralyzation at the airport … while Fire Fire crews respond to the incident, we have no clarity when it can be reliable, » said a Heathrow spokesman.
« We look forward to a significant interruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport in any circumstances until the airport is reopened, » said the spokesman.
European travel and leisure actions fell on the news.
Ed Miliband, UK Energy Minister, described the fire as « catastrophic« According to Reuters, he added that the airport backing generator had been affected by the fire.
Speaking to « Good Morning Britain » by ITV, Miliband said that the national network told him « is like a fire they have never had, a kind of anything like the scale of what happened before », according to a place in the program in X.
Miliband added that the national network was trying to use another backup system to restore energy to the airport.
Workers are investigating the electricity substation after a fire in a power supply that supplies energy to the installation, in London, the United Kingdom on March 21, 2025. The HEATHRrow Airport in the United Kingdom announced on Friday that it was forced to close after a fire in a power substation that supplies energy to the facility. (Photo of Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu through Getty Images)
Rasid Necati Aslim | Anatolia | Pictures of getty
Energy cuts also affected about 16,000 homes at the airport. From 8:00 GMT, the electricity supply was restored to all 4,900, according to the Energy Company of the United Kingdom Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.
Flights canceled and diverted
More than 120 flights were already in the air when the closure was announced and it was diverted or returned to their original airports, according to Flighttradar24. The Monitoring Site means that 679 flights are planned to land and that 678 flights are planned to take off, from Heathrow on Friday.
About 145,000 passengers could be affected by the closure, according to the Cirium aviation data.
Aerial companies around the world because of the operation of flights inside and outside Heathrow and told passengers To stay home.
Since the fire seems to be out of air company control, they may not have to cover compensation, according to a note issued by Citi on Friday.
« Makes Heathrow look quite vulnerable »
Heathrow Airport has approximately 1,300 takeoffs and landings at the airport daily, according to its website. Managed a record 83.9 million passengers Last year, an increase of almost 6% compared to 2023.
Speaking to « Good Morning Britain, » Miliband said on Friday, « we must understand why this happened and we have to work on the lessons for the resilience of our infrastructure. »
Firefighters Doufa flame a fire that exploded in a substation that supplies energy to Heathrow airport in Hayes, west of London, on March 21, 2025.
Benjamin Cuff | AFP | Pictures of getty
He said that the National Network is studying if there is a « sufficient resilience » to its place at the airport, as the fire also affected a backup generator.
« It makes Heathrow seemingly vulnerable. And so we have to learn lessons … not only about Heathrow, but also how we protect our important infrastructure, » said Miliband.
“Very wide” implications
Anita Mendiratta, travel and tourism consultant and founder of the AM & A consulting firm, described the implications of the fire and the closure of the airport as « very wide ».
« What we must also consider is above passenger traffic, more than 4,000 tons of load passing through Heathrow every day, » he told CNBC « »Squawk Box Europe. « »
More than 1.4 million tons of load flew and leave Heathrow in 2023, according to a post on the airport website, with 90% of the goods transported to passenger planes.
Airport officials said they will update travelers « when there are more information on the resumption of operations. »
Travelers can consult Heathrow Airport Website or social media platforms, including Xto obtain the most recent information.
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