London Heathrow closed until midnight after major fire

London Heathrow Airport, the largest in Europe and the second busiest in the world after Dubai, will remain closed until midnight on Friday, March 21, due to a power outage caused by a major fire.

A large-scale fire

The fire broke out on Thursday evening at a substation in Hayes, west of London, cutting off electricity to the airport and many households. According to the electricity operator Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, nearly 16,000 homes are affected.

In response to the situation, Heathrow Airport Holdings has decided to suspend all activities until 11:59 PM to ensure the safety of passengers and staff. “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and to contact their airline for more information. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the airport stated on the social media platform X.

Air traffic disruptions

Firefighters have been working tirelessly to extinguish the flames and restore power. However, there is no precise estimate yet for when electricity will be reliably restored.

The outage has caused significant disruptions to air traffic. According to FlightRadar24 data, several flights have been rerouted to other airports, including a Qantas flight from Perth (Australia) redirected to Paris-Charles de Gaulle and a United Airlines flight from New York landing in Shannon, Ireland. In total, 120 airborne aircraft have had to alter their routes.

Impact on travelers

With over 80 million passengers per year and 1,300 daily takeoffs and landings, Heathrow is a key hub for global air travel. This sudden closure is expected to cause significant disruptions in the coming days.

Travelers are encouraged to follow official updates from the airport and airlines to reorganize their travel plans accordingly.