Global travel disruption after Heathrow Airport shuts down over power outage caused by fire

London’s Heathrow Airport announced a implicit shutdown each time Friday owed to a “significant powerfulness outage” owed to a ample occurrence nearby, causing monolithic disruption to 1 of the world’s busiest question hubs arsenic flights were forced to crook backmost midair oregon divert to different locations.

“Due to a occurrence astatine an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a important powerfulness outage,” Heathrow Airport said successful a connection connected X. “To support the information of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow volition beryllium closed until 23h59 connected 21 March.”

“We expect important disruption implicit the coming days and passengers should not question to the airdrome nether immoderate circumstances until the airdrome reopens,” the airdrome said successful a connection to CNN, adding that they “do not person clarity connected erstwhile powerfulness whitethorn beryllium reliable restored.”

A transformer astatine an electrical substation successful Hayes, a London suburb located conscionable a fewer miles from the airport, caught occurrence Thursday night, according to the London Fire Brigade. The origin is not yet known, and firefighters were inactive moving to extinguish the blaze arsenic of aboriginal Friday morning.

The brigade said it evacuated 150 radical from the area. More than 16,000 homes mislaid power, according to inferior supplier Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks — with Britain’s National Grid “working astatine speed” to reconstruct power.

Videos shared connected societal media showed immense flames and fume rising into the aerial aboriginal Friday.

“As we caput into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we impulse radical to debar the country wherever possible,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said successful the occurrence brigade’s statement.

In its connection to CNN, the airdrome said: “We cognize this volition beryllium disappointing for passengers and we privation to reassure that we are moving arsenic hard arsenic imaginable to resoluteness the situation.”

Heathrow Airport appeared mostly acheronian amid the powerfulness outage, according to videos shared connected societal media.

Massive disruption

The shutdown could impact tens of thousands of travelers. Heathrow was the world’s fourth-busiest airdrome successful 2023, according to the astir caller data, with a record-breaking 83.9 cardinal passengers passing done past year.

Spread crossed 5 terminals and located 14 miles westbound of cardinal London, it usually runs astatine 99% capacity, with each large hose passing through, meaning it’s ever precise busy.

“Heathrow handles astir a 4th of a cardinal passengers a day. It does that with astir 1,300 flights a day,” aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told CNN connected Friday. “We’ve got virtually hundreds of flights coming successful from the United States, from Southeast Asia, the Middle East.”

Airline analytics steadfast Cirium estimated that “upwards of 145,000” passengers could beryllium impacted.

Dual US-Norwegian national Kim Mikkel Skibrek had already been flying for 3 hours from Minneapolis to London erstwhile unit announced they had to crook backmost owed to the fire.

“Everything is fine. People were frustrated with the formation returning aft implicit 3 hours but present it seems everyone is calmer,” Skibrek told CNN. He was traveling location to Oslo to beryllium with his begetter battling cancer, and said helium volition person to get different formation arsenic soon arsenic possible.

On the aforesaid flight, Abby Hertz and her household were traveling to London for the wedding of her husband’s champion friend. The mates had postponed the wedding erstwhile owed to Covid and were yet getting joined present that their lad was successful remission from leukemia, Hertz said — but it’s not wide if they’ll beryllium capable to marque the wedding now.

Meanwhile astatine New York’s JFK Airport, rider Christine said her British Airways formation had been acceptable to depart erstwhile the aviator announced they’d been asked to clasp for a while. Half an hr later, passengers were told Heathrow was closed and that different formation which had already taxied to the runway had turned backmost — leaving them stuck connected the tarmac.

“The temper is reasonably relaxed connected the plane, surprisingly. They’ve conscionable travel astir to provender us,” said Christine, who declined to springiness her past name. But, she said, with a wedding successful the UK to be Saturday, “I truly anticipation we’re not stuck until then!”

According to formation tracking website FlightRadar24, much than 1,350 flights going successful oregon retired of Heathrow connected Friday volition beryllium affected. It besides said 120 flights were successful the aerial erstwhile the announcement came. They had to beryllium diverted to different airports oregon turned backmost to their archetypal location.

Thomas added that portion shorter home flights mightiness beryllium capable to crook back, that’s not an enactment for long-haul planetary flights. There are respective different airports adjacent London, including Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport, but those are apt “at capacity,” meaning diverted flights person to spell further to find an alternate spot to onshore — similar successful Glasgow oregon Edinburgh, helium said.

And that could airs different problem. Those different airports, immoderate of them smaller and lower-cost than Heathrow, aren’t equipped to grip the sheer fig of diverted passengers coming their way, helium said.

As authorities contention to incorporate the occurrence and navigate the fallout, they’ll besides look pugnacious questions, Thomas said, including wherefore specified a important question and economical hub wasn’t capable to pat into a backup powerfulness source.

This is simply a processing communicative and volition beryllium updated.

CNN’s Martin Goillandeau and Juliana Liu contributed to this report.

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