London’s Heathrow resumes flights after fire led to shutdown, stranded thousands

Flights at London’s Heathrow Airport resumed late on Friday following an 18-hour shut-down. A fire knocked out the power supply of Europe’s busiest airport for the day, stranding tens of thousands of passengers and causing travel turmoil worldwide.

The airport said its teams worked tirelessly to reopen it after it was forced to close entirely after a huge fire engulfed a nearby substation on Thursday night, with travellers told to stay away.

After resuming operations, the first plane landed just before sunset on Friday. The airport hopes to be in full operation on Saturday.

“Tomorrow morning, we expect to be back in full operation, to 100% operation as a normal day,” said Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye. “What I’d like to do is to apologise to the many people who have had their travel affected. We are very sorry about all the inconvenience.”

The fire was first reported around 11:30 pm (5 am IST) on Thursday, after which firefighters were alerted. The airport announced its closure at 2 am (7:30 am IST) on Friday.

“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage. To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March. Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience,” announced Heathrow Airport.

Police ruled out any foul play in the incident, although enquiries remained ongoing. London Fire Brigade said its investigations would focus on the electrical distribution equipment.