Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, will remain closed all day on Friday (March 21) due to a major fire at a nearby electrical substation that has disrupted its power supply.
Airport authorities have stated that the closure is expected to last until 23:59 on Friday. Passengers have been warned of “significant disruption” in the coming days, and Heathrow has urged them not to travel under any circumstances until the airport reopens.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, at least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow will be affected by the closure.
The fire broke out at a substation in Hayes, west London, leaving thousands of homes without electricity and forcing the evacuation of around 150 people from surrounding properties. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Passengers on Turned-Around Delta Flight Stranded
The sudden closure has disrupted travel plans for thousands, including passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight from the United States to London that had to turn back mid-air.
Passenger Kim Mikkel Skibrek said he had been in the air for three hours when the crew announced their Heathrow-bound flight had to return to Minneapolis due to the fire near the airport.
“Everything is fine. People were frustrated with the flight returning after over three hours, but now it seems everyone is calmer. They announced that there was nothing wrong with the flight,” Skibrek told CNN.
Skibrek, a 40-year-old US-Norwegian citizen, was traveling to Oslo to visit his father, who has cancer, and is now hoping to get on another flight as soon as possible.
Another passenger, Abby Hertz, said she was flying to London with her husband and two children to attend a friend’s wedding when the flight was forced to turn around over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Canada.
“We are flying to my husband’s best friend from childhood’s wedding, which had been postponed due to Covid,” Hertz told CNN.
“The couple’s son had leukemia and is now in remission, so they are finally getting married. We have a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old in tow with us, so it’s … not fun,” she added.
Soon after, Hertz said Delta rebooked her family on another Heathrow-bound flight scheduled for Friday night.
“We just might make the wedding after all!” she said.
Fire Leaves Thousands Without Power
The fire at the substation in Hayes, in west London, has left thousands of homes without power and caused around 150 people to be evacuated from surrounding properties. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
