In the early hours of Friday morning, passengers were advised not to travel to the airport and told to contact their airline for further information after a blaze started at an electrical substation a 10-minute drive away from the airport. The substation supplies power to the UK’s largest airport.
Nearly 300,000 passengers across the world were impacted by the shutdown. Heathrow-bound flights were diverted to airports in Ireland, Cardiff, Manchester, Munich, Frankfurt and Madrid among others throughout Friday.
“Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery. We’re pleased to say we’re now safely able to begin some flights later today," said an airport spokesperson.
"Our first flights will be repatriation flights and relocating aircraft. Please do not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to do so.
"We hope to run a full operation tomorrow and will provide further information shortly."
Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery. We’re now safely able to restart flights, prioritising repatriation and relocation of aircraft. Please do not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to do so. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/fhUGiXCh6B
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) March 21, 2025
Travel disruption
Aviation analytics company Cirium confirmed Heathrow had been due to see over 1,330 flights on Friday, flying up to 291,000 passengers. British Airways had the largest share of flights from the airport (51%), followed by Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa.
Last month, Heathrow handled more than 5.7 million passengers, which means an average of 200,000 passengers passed through the airport each day.
British Airways said: "Our teams are currently working hard to review our long-haul schedule as well as the implications for our schedule.
"We continue to advise customers not to travel to the airport until further notice, and to keep up to date with their flight on Manage My Booking on ba.com."
Virgin Atlantic reported "significant disruption" to its flights on Friday. It asked customers not to call its contact centre due to high call volumes. "If your flight is cancelled, we will email to update you," the airline said.
Delta Air Lines cancelled 10 flights from Heathrow on Friday, while United Airlines pulled all 17 flights it normally operates from the hub. Seven of these cancelled flights either returned to their origin or diverted elsewhere.
‘Friday is typically the busiest day for travel’
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “The situation at Heathrow is incredibly difficult. An incident like this at one of the world’s busiest airports will have a very significant knock-on impact on all travel for the next few days.
"Of course, the priority for everyone is safety. The airport and the airlines will be working hard today to make sure the area is safe and that they can resume operations as soon as possible.
"Friday is typically the busiest day for travel with people returning from business trips, going on holiday or visiting friends and family, so all airports will likely be incredibly busy. Therefore, the reality is that the London airports would have been busy today already and this incident will exacerbate it further."
An Abta spokesperson said: “If your flight is part of a package holiday – you will have the highest level of protections. Your travel company will be in touch regarding your holiday.”
https://twitter.com/British_Airways/status/1902993421100331285
London Fire Brigade confirmed 10 fire engines and 70 firefighters tackled the blaze at the electrical substation in Hayes – a 10-minute drive from the airport – in the early hours of Friday.
Assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: "This was a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible."
Have you got clients affected by Friday’s closure? How are you supporting them? We want to hear from you. Email hkemble@ttgmedia.com with your stories.