Power appears to have been restored at Heathrow Airport; however, the facility remains closed following an outage triggered by a fire.
Britain’s National Grid announced that an “interim solution” has been established to restore power to the west London airport.
Reporters from the PA news agency in Terminal 4 have noted that the lights in the main building are back on and that lifts in the multi-storey car park are functioning once again.
“The network has been reconfigured to restore all affected customers, including the capability to resupply the sections of Heathrow airport linked to North Hyde,” said a spokesperson for the National Grid.
The airport had previously stated that it would remain closed until 11:59 PM due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation.
Approximately 200,000 passengers have been impacted by the closure of what is Europe’s busiest airport.
According to online flight tracking service FlightRadar24, over 1,350 flights were scheduled to either take off or land at the airport today.
The airport’s shutdown was initiated after a significant fire at a nearby substation resulted in a power outage, stranding passengers globally and causing frustration among airlines questioning how such crucial infrastructure could fail.
Large orange flames and thick black smoke were witnessed shooting into the sky around 11 PM yesterday as the blaze consumed the substation, disrupting power supply and backup systems for Europe’s busiest and the world’s fifth-busiest airport.
Experts in the airline industry noted that the last time European airports faced a disruption of this magnitude was during the 2010 Icelandic ash cloud, which grounded around 100,000 flights.
The sector is now bracing for a financial impact that could reach tens of millions of pounds.
“You would expect them to have robust backup power systems,” remarked a senior executive from a European airline.
The fire brigade is investigating the cause, but confirmed that 25,000 litres of cooling oil in the transformer ignited. By early morning, they had brought the blaze under control with white fire-fighting foam.
Britain’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated that foul play does not seem to be a factor.
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The closure necessitated flight diversions to other UK and European airports, while numerous long-haul flights had to return to their origin points.
Passengers stranded in London are now scrambling to make alternative travel arrangements amid the looming prospect of prolonged disruptions.
“When we first arrived here, it was very exciting and hopeful,” shared Beau Mahr, 21, from Iowa, USA. “Now that we have to wait, it’s quite stressful.”
Industry specialists cautioned that some passengers forced to land in Europe might be stuck in transit lounges if they do not have proper documentation to leave the airport.
Global flight schedules will also face repercussions, as aircraft and crews will be out of position, compelling carriers to swiftly readjust their networks.
An almost empty arrivals hall at Terminal 4 in Heathrow Airport
Hotel prices around Heathrow witnessed a dramatic increase, with booking sites listing rooms for £500 (€596), which is about five times the usual rates.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should reach out to their airline for more information,” Heathrow announced, stating the airport will remain closed until midnight. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Read more: Follow live updates on Heathrow cancellations: Airlines attempting to reroute flights from Irish airports
Chaos ahead: Airline executives, electrical engineers, and passengers voiced concerns over how Britain’s gateway to the world could close due to a single fire, regardless of its size.
Photos on social media displayed the airport terminal largely in darkness during the night.
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Power supply experts indicated that such a fire is exceedingly rare, explaining that the entire substation likely had to be shut down to extinguish the blaze.
However, they added that sufficient alternative supplies should enable a swift return to service.
“We can be quite assured they will be able to restore functionality by tomorrow,” said Nicholas Rigby, a commercial engineer at NRG Management Consultancy.
Mr. Miliband remarked that the “catastrophic” fire had impeded the operation of the backup power system and that engineers are working to implement a third backup mechanism.
“In any incident like this, we will want to investigate why it occurred and what lessons we can learn for our infrastructure,” he informed Sky News.
At least 37 flights operated by airlines including JetBlue, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air India, Delta Air, Qantas, United Airlines, IAG-owned British Airways, and Virgin were either diverted or returned to their origin airports during the night, according to data from flight analytics company Cirium.
“Heathrow is one of the major hubs globally,” stated Ian Petchenik, spokesperson for FlightRadar24. “This situation is going to disrupt airline operations worldwide.”
British Airways, the primary carrier at Heathrow, had 341 flights scheduled for arrival today.
Shares of its parent company IAG fell, alongside declines for other airlines. EasyJet and Ryanair added extra flights or utilized larger aircraft to help mitigate the backlog.
“It’s going to be a chaotic few days ahead,” predicted travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt of Atmosphere Research Group.
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Qantas Airways redirected its flight from Perth to Paris, a United Airlines flight from New York to Shannon, Ireland, and a United Airlines flight from San Francisco was heading to land in Washington, DC, instead of London.
A number of flights from the United States were turning around mid-air and heading back to their originating airports.
Heathrow and other major airports in London have experienced outages in recent years, notably due to an automated gate failure and an air traffic control system malfunction earlier in 2023.
A spokesperson for Heathrow informed Reuters via email that no clear timeline exists for power restoration and significant disruption is anticipated in the coming days.
On the ground in London, numerous homes and businesses also experienced power outages.
