A fire at an electrical substation forces the closure of Heathrow Airport.
The infrastructure suspends all operations throughout Friday, affecting 1,351 flights and more than 230,000 passengers.
LondonAir chaos in Europe and partial global chaos. Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, was forced to suspend all operations this Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation caused a "significant power failure." All flights scheduled for today—1,351, according to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24—have been canceled, triggering a chain reaction of cancellations at other European airports and several diversions to other British and European destinations for international travel. Some 230,000 passengers will be affected. More than fifty flights to and from Spain have also been canceled. In addition, thousands of homes—an estimated 16,000 in western Greater London—have also been affected and are without power.
"To ensure the safety of our passengers and partners, 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." around 1:30 a.m. It could take several days to return to normal at Heathrow.
By this time this morning, nearly 100 flights had already been canceled, and around 120 flights due to land at Heathrow earlier in the day were diverted to nearby Gatwick airport in south London and Stansted in the north. Data from travel company OAG indicates that Heathrow is the second busiest airport in the world, behind only Dubai, with 84 million passengers annually.
The London Fire Brigade said in a statement that ten fire engines and around 70 personnel were deployed to extinguish a "major fire" at an electrical substation in Hayes, near Heathrow, where a transformer caught fire. According to eyewitness accounts reported on social media, a large explosion was heard before the flames were seen. However, these reports have not yet been officially confirmed.
About 150 people have been evacuated from surrounding properties, 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."
