“Do not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” Heathrow Airport has advised travelers in anticipation of “significant disruption” over the next few days.
One of the biggest travel hubs in the world has completely shut down due to a major fire at an energy substation at Heathrow Airport, affecting tens of thousands of people and causing more than 1,300 flights to be disrupted.
According to CNN, the London Fire Brigade predicted that the fire will be a “prolonged incident,” causing more and more delays for the local population.
“Do not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” Heathrow Airport has advised travelers in anticipation of “significant disruption” over the next few days. The cause of the fire is still being looked into.
According to aviation analytics company Cirium, there could be an impact on “upwards of 145,000” passengers, including flights from Singapore, Seoul, and Perth. “On the long-haul routes, each aircraft will have about 250-400 passengers on the outbound flight, along with a similar number waiting to return,” said Cirium spokesperson Mike Arnot.
As a result, accommodating every passenger may take several days.
With 21 flights impacted, John F. Kennedy Airport in New York had the most planned departures to Heathrow on Friday. Numerous flights that were already in the air had to change their routes to other airports in North America and Europe. Some were even sent back to where they had come from.
Kim Mikkel Skibrek, one of the impacted passengers, was three hours into his Delta Air Lines flight to London when the crew said they would have to head back to Minneapolis because of the fire.
“Everything is good. The flight’s return after more than three hours irritated many, but now it appears that everyone is more at ease,” Skibrek added. He had been visiting his father, who has cancer, in Oslo.
When her flight was forced to turn around, Abby Hertz, another passenger, was traveling with her husband and two little children to London for a wedding.
She remarked, “The couple is finally getting married because their son has leukemia and it is now in remission.”
Later, Delta rescheduled her family’s flight for Friday night. She went on, “We might actually make it to the wedding after all.”
The substation fire, which has severely disrupted travel and left hundreds of houses without electricity, is still being fought by firefighters. Paul Morgan, station commander for the London Fire Brigade, said,
As of right now, the substation remains in flames. In order to use firefighting foam to combat the fire, firefighters are attempting to cut off the electricity.
Geoffrey Thomas, an aviation specialist, criticized Heathrow’s lack of backup power.
“You serve as our main global hub. You have enormous economic significance for the UK.
“There must be a backup plan,” he stated.
Thomas went on to say that if planes are rerouted to already-crowded airports like Gatwick, Birmingham, and Manchester, the suspension may result in more extensive operational problems.
More than 200 emergency calls about the fire have been placed to the London Fire Brigade.
“Our firefighters are working tirelessly in difficult conditions to bring the fire under control as quickly as possible,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne reassured the public.
The neighborhood has seen the evacuation of almost 150 persons.
At least 120 flights were already in the air when Heathrow closed, according to FlightRadar24 data, necessitating reroutes via several international airports, including Charles de Gaulle in Paris and Schiphol in Amsterdam.
With a record-breaking 83.9 million passengers in 2023, Heathrow was the fourth-busiest airport in the world. Since it typically operates at 99% capacity, the current disruption is even more important. In order to reopen the airport, authorities are currently evaluating the damage and attempting to restore power.
