Heathrow is now operating again after almost seventeen hours without flights

LondonShortly before 6:30 p.m. local time, a British Airways plane landed at Heathrow, west London, resuming a service that had been interrupted shortly before 2:00 a.m. this Friday due to a general infrastructure blackout caused by a fire at an electrical substation. The second plane landed at 7:10 p.m. This met management's expectations, which had stated earlier this afternoon that it was now ready to "safely restart flights." British Airways, which has its operations base at Heathrow and had 670 operations scheduled for today, has announced that it will prioritize "the repatriation and relocation of aircraft" originating in Europe. In fact, it is expected to be fully operational tomorrow. Air traffic has returned to the runways after almost seventeen hours.

With the confirmation of the first landing, the forecast made early this morning, which was to resume operations starting at 11:59 p.m. tonight, has been brought forward by five and a half hours. The first flights are scheduled to depart for Johannesburg, Singapore, Riyadh, Cape Town, Sydney via Singapore, and Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro, with priority given to flights arriving from the mainland.

Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow's chief executive, appeared before the media this afternoon and confirmed that they expect to be "back to full operation tomorrow, Saturday, like a normal day." Why has it taken so many hours to resume operations once the general blackout brought down all systems? Basically, it's because restarting them and ensuring they're working properly is a very slow process.

All in all, Woldbye assured that the airport is recovering "fairly quickly" considering the number and scope of systems involved. Heathrow has three substations with a backup transformer, but one of them also failed due to the fire. It is an "unprecedented incident" that has caused a power loss equivalent to that of a "medium-sized city," he stated. What he has not answered is why the airport's security and emergency systems are not sufficient to keep the infrastructure operational.

In parallel, counter-terrorism police specialists are investigating the causes of the fire at an electrical substation in west London that forced the closure of Heathrow Airport this Friday and caused air chaos in Europe and partly around the world. While Scotland Yard assured that "there is currently no evidence of sabotage," all hypotheses remain open. The involvement of the Counter Terrorism Command is a consequence of "the impact of this incident on critical infrastructure," the police said. It is the first time the airport has closed in 15 years. The government spokesperson assured that there are "questions to be answered" about how a single fire could have caused chaos of this magnitude.

Local residents felt a loud explosion, followed by a fireball that shot into the sky. When emergency crews arrived shortly after 1:30 a.m., they discovered a transformer with 25,000 liters of cooling oil on fire.

Heathrow Airport is the second busiest in the world, with 84 million passengers annually. In Spain, Madrid-Barajas Airport has been the hardest hit by the knock-on effect of the situation, with 29 flights canceled (15 arrivals and 14 departures) to or from Heathrow. El Prat Airport, meanwhile, has canceled 14 flights in total, six landings and eight takeoffs.

"To ensure the safety of passengers and staff, Heathrow will remain closed until 11:59 p.m. on March 21. We advise passengers not to travel to the airport and to contact their airline for further information," the management of the early morning message posted.

The number of affected flights was ultimately 1,149. The schedule disruption caused a chain reaction of suspensions at other European and global airports. One hundred and nineteen flights were diverted to other British and European destinations. It is estimated that between 210,000 and 220,000 passengers suffered the consequences of the fire.

The cause of the fire, which started around midnight and has also left thousands of homes—around 16,000 in west London—without power, is currently unknown. It could take several days for normal operations at Heathrow to return. The airline most affected by the closure is British Airways, whose main hub is Terminal 5. It was scheduled to operate 670 flights this Friday and over the weekend.

Although the power supply is beginning to recover, as already mentioned, and activity is sure to partially resume this Saturday, what is also guaranteed is that normal operations will not be possible. Foreign airlines, such as Emirates, Lufthansa, Air France, and Air Canada, will likely be able to carry out most of their planned operations. However, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will suffer for much of next week from the fact that pilots, aircraft, and cabin crews have been stranded across Europe, Asia, and the United States. In this sense, the long-haul network will be the most affected.

The London Fire Brigade reported in a statement that ten engines and around seventy personnel were deployed to extinguish a "major fire" at an electrical substation in Hayes, near Heathrow, where a transformer burned. The blaze is currently ongoing. According to eyewitnesses reported on social media, a large explosion was heard before the flames were seen. However, these reports have not yet been officially confirmed.

Around 150 people have had to be evacuated, and a 200-meter safety perimeter has been established around the electrical substation as a precautionary measure. Assistant Fire Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: "This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in difficult conditions to bring the blaze under control as quickly as possible."