LONDON (AP) — Heathrow Airport in the UK, the busiest in Europe, it will be closed on Friday, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers after a fire at an electrical substation left the airport and thousands of homes without power.
Authorities at Heathrow said they did not know when power would be restored, increasing the likelihood that the shutdown would last more than a day.
At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar24, and the impact is expected to last several days as passengers try to reschedule their trips and airlines work to get planes and crews to the correct locations.
About 120 flights were in the air when the airfield closure was announced: some returned to their point of origin, while others were diverted to Gatwick Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle, or Shannon in Ireland, according to tracking services.
Why was the main London airport closed?
About 150 people had to be evacuated after a transformer inside an electrical substation caught fire in west London.
“To ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow” throughout the day on Friday," the airport stated. “We anticipate significant disruption in the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
They indicated that they will provide an update on their operations when they have more information available about the resumption of electricity.
The London Fire Brigade reported that 10 fire trucks and around 70 firefighters were at the scene.
“The fire has caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses, and we are working closely with our partners to minimize the disruption,” said Deputy Commissioner Pat Goulbourne.
Images posted on social media showed huge flames and large columns of smoke coming out of the facility.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks indicated in a post on social network X that the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes.
Emergency services were called to the scene at 11:23 p.m. on Thursday night. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Goulbourne urged people to take safety precautions and not go to the area while the crews worked to extinguish the fire.