Heathrow Airport Recovers from Disruptive Power Outage

Operations at Heathrow Airport resumed on Saturday after a fire caused a significant disruption, leading to the diversion of over 1,000 flights and affecting hundreds of thousands of travelers. Investigations are ongoing into the cause of the fire while adjustments are made to restore normalcy in airline schedules.

Heathrow Airport in London, one of the busiest airports in the world, announced the resumption of operations on Saturday, following a severe disruption caused by a fire at an electrical substation the previous day. The fire, which broke out in the early hours of Friday, forced the temporary cessation of flights and resulted in travel chaos, displacing more than a quarter of a million passengers.

The Metropolitan Police reported that they are investigating the fire, although early indications suggest no foul play. In addition to disrupting airport operations, the fire also cut power to thousands of homes in the surrounding western London area.

British Airways, which is the largest airline operating at Heathrow, indicated that approximately 85 percent of scheduled flights for Saturday were expected to resume, although all travelers should prepare for delays. The airline also decided to cancel numerous flights on well-frequented routes to better manage their capacity for passengers needing to rebook.

Travelers faced significant delays as the airport worked to restore normal operations—a process that involved managing the aftermath of more than 1,000 diverted flights. A spokesperson from Heathrow warned passengers to avoid heading to the airport unless they had specific advice from their airline.

Despite the challenges, international flights resumed by Friday evening, with planes arriving from various global locations like South Africa, Brazil, and Hong Kong. Thomas Woldbye, the chief executive of Heathrow, explained that while a backup transformer was functioning at the time of the outage, it lacked the capacity to power the entire airport.

British utility provider National Grid has since restructured the substation's network to provide temporary power restoration to the airport and neighboring customers, although full operational capacity remains a challenge in the aftermath of the incident. As investigations continue, the airport assures that plans are in place for a full return to service.