Heathrow Flights Resume After Power Outage

1 month ago Editor

Flights at Heathrow Airport have resumed after an unprecedented power outage, triggered by a fire at a nearby substation, caused major disruptions. Thousands of passengers were affected, with flights grounded and incoming planes diverted. Full operations are expected to resume by Saturday.

Flights have resumed at Heathrow Airport following a significant power outage caused by a fire at a nearby electrical substation. The disruption, which began on Thursday evening, left about 200,000 passengers affected as flights were grounded and incoming planes were diverted to other European airports.

The fire, which broke out at the North Hyde plant in Hayes, led to an “unprecedented” loss of power at the UK’s busiest airport. Emergency services were alerted at 23:20 GMT on Thursday, and the fire was brought under control by 06:30 on Friday. The incident resulted in major flight cancellations and diversions, with Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, describing the event as one of the most severe disruptions the airport has ever faced.

By Friday evening, some long-haul flights, including those operated by British Airways, Air Canada, and United Airlines, were cleared to depart. Restrictions on overnight flights were temporarily lifted to ease congestion and accommodate affected passengers. The priority has been to repatriate travelers who were diverted to other airports and reposition aircraft.

Despite the setbacks, Heathrow expects to return to full operations by Saturday. Officials continue to monitor the situation, ensuring that flights run smoothly as normal schedules resume. Authorities are now assessing how to prevent similar disruptions in the future while learning from this unprecedented event.