Following a chaotic day after a fire broke out at a local electrical substation, Heathrow Airport reopened its flights. Services at one of the world’s largest transportation centers were brought to a halt by the fire, which resulted in a massive power outage. Heathrow confirmed it was running at full capacity again as of Saturday morning. Passengers have been warned to expect continued issues over a few days, however. While delays remain the biggest issue, British Airways has estimated that roughly 85% of its scheduled flights will operate. Nine of the initial 20 scheduled arrivals were canceled by 7:00 GMT, but most early morning departures departed on schedule.
More than 1,300 flights were impacted on Friday, reports Flightradar24. Passengers were advised not to travel to the airport unless they had received special directions from their airline. The National Grid said an “interim solution” had been implemented, reconnecting power to affected communities, including Heathrow. The network was “reconfigured” to restore electricity to all affected customers. Firefighters continued to battle the fire at the North Hyde substation in Hayes, west London.
The electrical substation fire, which powers Heathrow, was the main reason for the disruption. The cause of the fire remains unknown. Yet Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said there was no immediate sign of foul play, although counter-terrorism police are probing as the fire broke out near sensitive infrastructure. Emergency services were initially notified of the blaze at Nestles Avenue, Hayes, at 23:23 GMT on Thursday. The fire included a transformer filled with 25,000 liters of cooling oil, London Fire Brigade (LFB) Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Smith stated. The blaze was “very visible and significant,” he said. The crews were able to get the situation under control at 06:28 on Friday morning. Later in the night, officials confirmed that the fire seemed to be non-suspicious, with investigations targeting electrical distribution equipment. Commander Simon Messinger, who is coordinating the police response, said that expert investigators are looking at the scene, but complete assessments will take time. While additional evaluations are underway, he reaffirmed that there is still no indication of foul play at this point.
As a premier world transit hub, Heathrow has raised questions about its capacity for coping with power outages. The airport does maintain emergency backup power systems but these do not offer immediate restoration to all airport services. In an inside source, Heathrow relies on several sources of energy, such as diesel generators and “uninterruptible power supplies.” These backup power systems performed according to schedule when the power outage took place. But they were not enough to support full airport operation, so it was decided to close the facility temporarily. Restoring all systems required in an airport after a power shutdown like this is complicated and takes a long time. Each system must be checked individually to verify stability before resuming normal operation. Uncertainty lingers over why Heathrow’s stand-alone backup systems were not able to continue operations and whether the National Grid’s network for distributing electricity was capable of supporting the circumstances. A comprehensive probe is set to shed more light.
Flight operations resumed incrementally on Friday evening, with Heathrow prioritizing repatriation and relocation flights. Heathrow announced itself “open and fully operational” by Saturday morning, but cancellations and flight disruptions are anticipated for a number of days to come. The original shutdown created a ripple effect that affected airports globally. Several flights were canceled or diverted, with airlines having to reschedule. Heathrow has apologized for the disruption and requested passengers to contact their airlines prior to departure. To alleviate traffic, the Department for Transport confirmed overnight restriction on flights at Heathrow had been suspended temporarily. Typically, the government restricts takeoffs and landings between 23:30 and 06:00 every year to minimize nighttime noise pollution.
By 08:00 UTC on a typical Friday, Heathrow would typically have about 200 flights in transit. But by Friday morning, the typical traffic flow had been seriously disrupted. At least 1,351 flights were affected, with roughly 120 aircraft already in the air when the closure was announced, according to Flightradar24. A number of airlines have moved to modify their operations. Air Canada and United Airlines restarted some flights from the evening of Friday, while Virgin Atlantic hoped to fly most of its programmed flights on Saturday, with a few exceptions. British Airways suspended all short-haul flights due to depart on Friday but later permitted some long-haul flights, including to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Singapore, and Rio de Janeiro, to operate from 19:00 GMT onwards. Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific suspended all Friday flights to London. In the meantime, Gatwick Airport has indicated preparedness to support Heathrow in case of need. A number of Qantas flights destined for London were diverted to Paris, and further disruptions are anticipated. The Heathrow Express railway service has also been hit, operating a partial schedule between Paddington and the airport.
Aside from the travel disruption, the power cut caused substantial disarray in day-to-day life in west London. Thousands of houses were left in the dark, impacting residents’ basic services. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), which supplies energy, said that over 16,300 homes had been left without power. 150 individuals had been evacuated from surrounding properties for precautionary purposes. People had also been requested to keep windows and doors closed for smoke safety reasons. Two nurseries and four schools were temporarily closed as a result of the blackout in Hillingdon, the borough in London that Heathrow belongs to. Hillingdon Council has offered emergency housing for a dozen displaced residents. Furthermore, bin collection and public transport within the vicinity, such as bus routes and parts of the M4, were disrupted. No injuries have been reported despite the intensity of the fire and its effects.
Due to the location of the substation and its importance to the country’s infrastructure, the inquiry is being spearheaded by the Metropolitan Police’s counterterror command. The authorities are keeping an open mind while gathering more information even though they don’t see any signs of wrongdoing at present. Police and the London Fire Brigade continue to work closely together to assess the situation. Heathrow authorities have also agreed to conduct an internal inquiry in order to find out what was wrong and how it can be prevented from occurring in the future. As airlines struggle to catch up on the major disruption, passengers can expect to prepare for potential delays and changes although flights are currently running on time.
