Flights at Heathrow Airport have resumed after a power outage caused by a massive fire forced Europe’s busiest airport to shut down on Friday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and causing widespread global travel disruption.
The power outage occurred following a fire at a substation near Heathrow on Thursday night. The airport, which had been scheduled to handle 1,351 flights and nearly 291,000 passengers on Friday, saw flights diverted to other UK and European airports, with many long-haul services returning to their original destinations.
Efforts to resume operations were swift. By late Friday, some flights had begun departing, although the airport acknowledged that operations would be limited. Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, expressed hope for a full return to normal operations by Saturday morning. He apologised for the disruption, acknowledging the frustration felt by both passengers and airlines.
Police ruled out foul play but confirmed that counter-terrorism officers were leading the investigation due to the critical nature of the infrastructure. The fire, which involved 25,000 litres of cooling oil, had been brought under control, but the cause remains unknown.
The incident has raised questions about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure. Despite having back-up systems in place, Woldbye admitted that Heathrow, which consumes as much energy as a small city, could not fully operate on back-up power alone. British Transport Minister Heidi Alexander defended Heathrow’s response, stating that resilience plans were implemented effectively.
While flights are now resuming, it is expected that it will take several days for full operations to return, with airline schedules and aircraft positioning remaining disrupted.
