Phil Nuttall, chief executive of Blackpool-based Travel Village Group, admitted the agency had only a few customers whose plans were impacted by the power outage caused by a massive fire at an electrical substation that supplies the airport. 

However, Nuttall called hotels’ pricing strategies "not palatable", adding: “If you’ve got a rock concert in town, hotel prices tend to go up around 100%, but here we’re seeing 500%," he said. 

"Hotels are trying to milk [the Heathrow power outage]." 

Nuttall added: “We’re in the leisure industry. We work together. We supply together, how can it be right to monetise this? I’m not being naive. A lot of people are going on a holiday of a lifetime."

Travel Village staff often advise customers whose outgoing flights have been cancelled to stay at home, rather than to travel to the airport and run the risk of paying inflated hotel prices. 

"We would tell them to stay at home," said Nuttall. "Charging inflated prices is not in the spirit of travel. It’s morally wrong to be loading prices by 500%. 

How agents worked through the night to save clients’ trips during Heathrow shutdown

"There are no laws or rules to stop it. If hotels want to price according to supply and demand and rip people off, they are entitled to do it, but it does not sit right with me."  

Heathrow is fully operational again after Friday’s power outage which forced the UK’s largest airport to shut all day on Friday (21 March). 

More than 1,000 flights were pulled across the world as Heathrow fought to restore power at its terminals.