LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Heathrow Airport said it would be closed all of Friday after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power, disrupting flight schedules around the world.
The London Fire Brigade said around 70 firefighters were tackling the blaze in the west of London, which caused a mass power outage at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest and the world’s fifth-busiest airport.
Huge orange flames and plumes of smoke could be seen shooting into the sky. Around 150 people were evacuated from nearby buildings and thousands of properties were without power.
The fire brigade said the cause of the fire was not known.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” Heathrow Airport said in a post on X, adding that passengers were advised not to travel to the airport.
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, at least 120 inbound flights to Heathrow were having to divert to other airports, while 1,351 flights had been due to land and take off at Heathrow of Friday.
Industry experts said tourism, travel and trade would be further disrupted around the world, as flights will be cancelled or delayed due to aircraft being out of position.
British Airways itself had 341 flights scheduled to land at Heathrow on Friday.
“This will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers, and we are working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond,” it said.
The fire forced planes to divert around the world.
Qantas Airways sent its flight from Perth to Paris, a United Airlines New York flight headed to Shannon, Ireland and a United Airlines flight from San Francisco was due to land in Washington, D.C. rather than London.
Some flights from the US were turning around mid-air and returning to their point of departure.
“Heathrow is one of the major hubs of the world,” said Ian Petchenik, spokesman for FlightRadar24. “This is going to disrupt airlines’ operations around the world.”
