London Heathrow Airport is closed due to a substation fire. What is known

On Friday, March 21, London Heathrow Airport, recognized as one of the busiest in the world, completely stopped work due to a fire at a nearby substation. It is assumed that the air harbor will be closed until the end of the day, but the exact timing of the restoration of reception and departure of flights is still unknown. According to experts, the accident may affect more than 200 thousand passengers. Read more about the incident in the Izvestia article.

Heathrow Airport Closure — what happened

On the afternoon of March 21, Heathrow Airport announced its closure due to a large-scale power outage caused by a fire at an electrical substation feeding the air harbor. As a result of the accident, one of the terminals was completely de-energized. Lights also went out in some other areas, and passengers faced serious delays at check-in and baggage handling points.

It was not possible to normalize work, and the Heathrow management decided to close the airport until 23:59 (20:59 Moscow time).

"We expect significant disruptions to the airport in the coming days, and passengers should under no circumstances travel to the airport before it opens," CNN quoted representatives of the airport as saying.

It is noted that at the moment it is impossible to say exactly when the power supply will be fully restored.

The accident occurred at an electrical substation in Hayes (a suburb of London), located 2.5 km from the airport. According to the Daily Mail, at about 23:30 (20:30 Moscow time) on Thursday, a transformer caught fire and exploded there. Firefighters have been fighting the fire all night, but it is still not possible to control the fire. The police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Due to the fire at the substation, 16 thousand houses were also left without electricity, rescuers evacuated 150 people.

Heathrow Airport closure: consequences

The Independent reports that at least 1,350 flights bound for or from Heathrow have been cancelled or diverted to other airports. The Daily Mail clarifies that some planes arriving in London were able to land in other cities in the UK, but their air harbors are already crowded. Dozens of flights were sent to the Netherlands, Germany, France and other European countries. Some planes from the USA and India returned to their departure airports.

More than 60 airlines, including British Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and American United Airlines, have already reported cancellations or delays at Heathrow.

Heathrow Airport is one of the busiest international airports in the world. In 2024, it was second only to Dubai Airport in this indicator. According to The Independent, with reference to the analytical company Cirium, on March 21, the airport was supposed to receive more than 200 thousand passengers.

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It will make it possible to disrupt enemy attacks without disrupting the operation of the air harbor's radio equipment.

Neil Hansward, head of Sydney-based consulting firm Strategic Aviation Solutions, told The Guardian that the closure of Heathrow Airport was "unheard of" for the industry and warned that airlines around the world would face a "logistical nightmare."

The expert noted that other London airports, such as Gatwick and Stansted, are not able to accept all flights diverted from Heathrow, and passengers and crew members who landed in other countries will have problems with the inability to reach their destination.

"If you land in Paris or Amsterdam, or even Manchester, how are you going to get your passengers and crew to London, and how will your departing passengers and replacement crew get to another city? Trains will not be able to cope with this task," he said.

According to Hansford, even if Heathrow reopens by Saturday, disruptions in flight schedules will be observed around the world for several more days.