The United Kingdom’s Heathrow Airport has reopened flights after a fire disrupted its power supply and closed Europe’s busiest airport for the day. This incident caused significant disruptions to the travel plans of tens of thousands of travellers.
In the late hours of Friday, London’s primary airport announced that its personnel had worked assiduously to restore power to the facility following a fire at an electrical substation that supplied it with electricity.
In an earlier statement, FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website, indicated that the closure would impact at least 1,351 flights.
On Friday, Heathrow announced that the number of flights would be restricted, with the primary objective of relocating aircraft and bringing them into London.
Thomas Woldbye, the Chief Executive of Heathrow, has stated that the airport anticipates returning to full operation tomorrow morning, with a 100 percent level of operation. “I would like to extend my apologies to the numerous individuals whose travel has been impacted…. We apologise deeply for any inconvenience this may have caused.
The Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism officers are now in charge of the investigation into the cause of the fire that occurred on Thursday night. “We are maintaining an open mind at this time,” the force stated, despite the absence of any indication of foul play.
The airport of Heathrow is consistently ranked among the top five busiest gateways worldwide and is one of the most globally connected.
Last year, the airport handled approximately 84 million passengers, the highest number on record, and serves over 200 destinations in nearly 90 countries and territories.
Al Jazeera was informed by aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas that the closure on Friday was anticipated to result in the diversion of approximately one-quarter million passengers across Europe and the United Kingdom.
“There is likely to be chaos for a period of 24 hours, or more likely 48 or 72 hours.” He stated that while there are other airports in the United Kingdom that manage diverted flights, their capacity to accommodate this volume would be a significant challenge.
Therefore, a significant number of these flights would be diverted to Europe. However, the issue is that airlines are suddenly faced with the situation of having a flight in Frankfurt when it is supposed to be in Heathrow, as well as crew members who are in the incorrect location. Additionally, Thomas expressed that the situation is tumultuous.
Ellen, a traveler from Surrey, Britain, had intended to travel to Venice on Friday via British Airways. However, the closure necessitated that she modify her itinerary.
“We were scheduled to depart from Heathrow this morning to fly to Venice for a day trip as a surprise for my 30th birthday.” This was a surprise reservation made by my cousin for the two of us. “We have been offered a full refund by the airline, so we will not be travelling this weekend. However, we will do our best to reschedule for a future weekend,” she informed Al Jazeera.
Lloyd, 34, declared that he intended to travel from Glasgow, Scotland, to the United States via Heathrow to visit his partner. However, he received an email on Friday morning while en route to Glasgow Airport, informing him that his 6:35am flight had been rescheduled to a later time and to a different US airport.
He was advised not to travel to Heathrow, as his departure had been cancelled by the time he arrived at the airport. While it was disappointing, he stated that it was preferable to being stranded at the London airport.
Footage that was shared on social media platforms depicted a conflagration that was several stories high, illuminating the night sky and emitting massive plumes of black smoke.
A fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London, near the airport, was brought under control by the London Fire Brigade, which deployed 10 engines and approximately 70 firefighters.
Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne stated, “This was a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to quickly bring the fire under control.” “We successfully contained the fire and prevented its further spread as a result of their efforts and the coordinated multiagency response.”
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