- Air operations were resumed on Saturday after a limited appeal at 16:31 local time on Friday, March 21, 2025
- More than 1350 flights and about 291,000 passengers are affected
Update 7:00 UTC, March 22
Heathro Airport in London resumed full operations on Saturday, one day after a fire at an electrical sub -station, which led to the main power outage, forcing the closure of the most crowded European airport and the creation of global travel interruptions.
While the limited flights resumed on Friday evening, the nearby closure left the day earlier in the day, tens of thousands of passengers, and they called to the rooms of hotel and alternative flights where the airlines worked to determine the location of the crew and the crew.
A spokesman for Heathrow confirmed that the airport returned to regular operations and announced additional measures to relieve accumulation:
“We have hundreds of additional colleagues at hand at our stations, and we have added flights to today’s schedule to facilitate 10,000 additional passengers traveling through the airport.”
Although returning to full jobs, recovery is expected to take several days as transport companies work through the delay and cancellation chain that affected internal and external networks around the world.
Update 23:00 UTC
London Heathrow Airport resumed limited flights after the massive power outage, which led to the most crowded flight center in the United Kingdom. It is originally reopened early on Saturday morning (UK time), some flights managed to leave before the date set on Friday. The first arrival in Heathrow arrived on Friday evening, about 18 hours after the electricity was out of power.
From 16:31 local time, Heathrow started restarting operations on a restricted basis, using only 3 and 5 stations. Stations 2 and 4 remain closed, and all airline movements require previous approval of the opening from the airport coordination.
Initial operations in Heathrow uses the eastern flow, with aircraft landing on the runway 09 and leaving from Runway 09R. The airport’s full jobs are expected to resume on Saturday. British Airways has received a permit to run eight long -term departure from 19:00 on Friday, including its daily service to Sydney. The confirmed flights are:
- Ba055 – Johannesburg
- Ba057 – Johannesburg
- Ba011 – Singapore
- Ba259 – RIYAADH
- Ba045 – Cape Town
- Ba059 – Cape Town
- Ba015 – Sydney (via Singapore)
- Ba249 – Buenos Aires (via Rio de Janeiro)
In a statement on Friday afternoon, Heathrow said it was “able to restart flights” but warned that the disturbance is expected to continue for several days. Many aircraft scheduled to operate from Heathrow are currently widespread throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and beyond, making efforts to restore regular service.
Full article
London Heathrow Airport was closed until midnight on Friday after a destructive fire at a nearby power station, which caused a huge energy interruption. Blaze took out the main energy systems and backup, as the airport drowned in darkness and chaos.
The fire broke out after 11 pm (2300 GMT) on Thursday in Hayes, west of London, and quickly escalated, and tall fire and thick black smoke were sent in the sky of the night. Engineers and emergency crews work to restore energy.
About 70 firefighters responded to the scene of the accident and were controlled early Friday morning. The cause of the fire is still unknown, although Energy Minister Ed Miliband excluded wrong play, and described the accident as “catastrophic”.
1,351 scheduled flights on Friday
Heathrow Airport announced that the operations will remain suspended until at least midnight on Friday, with no timetable for energy recovery. The interruption of interruption affects 1,351 scheduled flights and about 291,000 passengers.
“Because of the power outages in the Heathrow area of London, London Heathrow Airport is currently advising. As a result, customers are advised because of the travel from Heathrow on Friday not to travel to the airport until further notice,” one of the airport spokesman said.
British Airways 341 trips were to land on Friday. In total, 77 airlines were appointed to operate 669 internal flights. According to Flightradar24, at least 120 of those internal flights were forced to convert alternative airports on Friday morning.
The majority of these LHR flights were converted to nearby airports while some have returned to the departure cities.
Airlines responses
Since Heathro Airport is still closed due to the main power outage, airlines have responded all over Europe and beyond quickly to help passengers and adjust their schedules.
Ryanair has announced the addition of up to eight rescue trips between Dublin and London Stanste to help those who are affected by the disruption of Heathrow.
The low -cost Irish airline has set four additional flights on Friday afternoon and four on Saturday morning. These special services were provided on Ryanair from 09:30 am on Friday. The airline confirmed the update through a post on the social media platform X.
France Airlines canceled eight flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday. However, the services to other UK airports remained unattended. Meanwhile, the KLM partner transport company canceled three return trips between the Netherlands and Hathero.
Scandinavian airlines (SAS) confirmed the cancellation of all 12 round flights to and from Heathrow for this day.
Singaporean Airlines reported that four flights were canceled from Singapore to London and four return flights from London to Singapore due to the closure. The airline works to restore the passenger book on alternative services or roads wherever possible.
In Spain, ANA, a state -owned airports operator, stated that 54 flights to and from Heathrow were affected by its stations. This included 29 contacts in Madrid, 19 in Barcelona, and six across Malaga, Tenervi, and Valencia. AENA advised passengers to contact their airlines to get updated information about flight schedules.
With the improvement of the situation in Heathrow, the airlines continue to control their operations to reduce the disturbances and help the affected travelers.
Tamulization effect around the world
Aviation experts have warned that the closure of Heathrow will resonate through global airlines. “Heathrow is one of the main centers in the world,” said Eyan Beachnik, spokesman for Flightradar24. “This will disrupt airlines around the world.”
Aviation disturbances are expected to last for several days, as aircraft and crew are now out of the position. Analysts also indicated that some of the passengers who have been transferred to European airports may be stuck in the crossing halls due to visa restrictions, which increases the complexity of recovery efforts.
Engineers are currently publishing a triple energy backup system. “With any such accident, we will want to understand the reason for its occurrence, and what if there are lessons for our infrastructure,” Miliband told Sky News.