Flights at Britain's busiest airport resumed late on Friday after a fire disrupted its power supply, causing widespread travel chaos.
Heathrow's teams worked diligently to reopen after the airport completely closed Thursday night following a significant fire at a nearby substation, advising travelers to stay away. The airport had anticipated accommodating up to 291,000 passengers on Friday, but many flights were diverted to other airports in the UK and Europe, with long-haul flights returning to their points of origin.
On Friday, only a limited number of flights operated, focused primarily on relocating aircraft and bringing planes back to London. Heathrow's chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, expressed hope that the airport would return to full operations the following day. He apologized for the disruption many travelers faced.
Authorities determined that the incident was not suspicious, though investigations remained ongoing. The London Fire Brigade's focus will be on the electrical distribution equipment involved in the fire.
The closure caused significant inconvenience for travelers and frustration among airlines, which raised concerns about the reliability of Heathrow's infrastructure. The airline industry is now bracing for financial losses amounting to tens of millions of pounds, and there may be disputes regarding liability.
Woldbye acknowledged that while backup systems functioned as intended, there are limits to what can be fully protected against. Transport Minister Heidi Alexander noted that the incident was beyond Heathrow's control, commending the swift activation of resilience plans in collaboration with emergency responders and airline operators.
Airlines such as JetBlue, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air India, Delta Air Lines, Qantas, United Airlines, and IAG-owned British Airways experienced diversions or returns to their original airports during the night. Airline shares, including those of U.S. carriers, fell in response.
Aviation experts pointed out that the last significant disruption of this scale occurred due to the 2010 Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, which grounded approximately 100,000 flights. Although flights have resumed, it will take time for all scheduled passenger services to normalize.
Sean Doyle, chief executive of British Airways, acknowledged the ripple effects on operations as aircraft and personnel were unexpectedly relocated. The UK’s Department for Transport temporarily lifted restrictions on overnight flights to alleviate congestion, while passengers stranded in London scrambled to make alternative travel arrangements.
Prices at hotels around Heathrow surged, with some booking sites offering rooms for £500 ($645)—about five times the usual rates. Many, including airline executives, questioned how such a critical airport could be incapacitated by a single fire, recalling that Heathrow and other major airports had previously faced outages due to automation and air traffic control failures earlier in 2023.
Philip Ingram, a former intelligence officer, argued that Heathrow's inability to maintain operations highlighted vulnerabilities in Britain's critical infrastructure. Willie Walsh, head of the global airline body IATA, echoed this sentiment, criticizing Heathrow for failing to meet passenger needs.
Heathrow assured that it had diesel generators and uninterrupted power supplies to facilitate safe aircraft landings and passenger evacuations, and that all emergency systems functioned as expected. However, due to the airport's significant energy demands, it could not sustain all operations solely on backup systems.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated that there would be a thorough investigation into the incident, raising important questions about its circumstances.