London’s Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest travel hubs in the world, came to a standstill on Friday, March 21, following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. The blaze broke out late Thursday night and caused a major power outage, forcing airport officials to suspend all operations for the day. An estimated 200,000 travelers were left in limbo.
“You would think they would have significant back-up power,” a top executive from a European airline said, according to Reuters.
The London Fire Brigade dispatched 10 fire engines and about 70 firefighters to battle the blaze near the airport in Hayes, West London. While the fire was brought under control by early Friday morning, the disruption had already rippled across the aviation network.
Heathrow Airport Fire Disrupts Global Air Travel
The temporary closure of Heathrow created a domino effect across global travel. With more than 1,350 flights impacted, airlines scrambled to divert traffic to other major airports, including London’s Gatwick, Paris’s Charles de Gaulle and Shannon Airport in Ireland.
British Airways, whose main hub is Heathrow, warned of a “significant impact” on its operations and customers. Other major carriers, including United Airlines and Lufthansa, canceled their Friday flights in and out of Heathrow, leaving thousands of passengers to find alternative arrangements.
As the day progressed, Heathrow officials worked to restore power and resume operations. By late afternoon, there was a glimmer of hope: the airport announced it would begin to “safely” resume some flights. The first plane landed around 6:30 p.m. local time, signaling a cautious return to normalcy.
Investigation Underway
While the immediate focus remained on recovery and passenger support, questions began to surface about the incident’s cause and what it reveals about vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure.
The Metropolitan Police said there was “currently no indication of foul play.” However, due to the outage’s impact on national infrastructure, counterterrorism officers will lead the investigation.
Philip Ingram, a former British military intelligence officer, described the fire as a “wake-up call,” emphasizing the importance of robust contingency plans to protect key facilities from similar incidents.
