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 smoke could be seen shooting into the sky. Around 150 people were evacuated from nearby buildings and thousands of properties were without power.
This frame grab taken from a UGC video shot and posted on X on March 21, 2025 by @fire_at_Vill shows a fire burning at a neighborhood electrical substation supplying power to Heathrow Airport in Hayes, west London. — Photo courtesy @fire_at_Vill via AFP
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 11:59 pm 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.
It said at least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow would be affected on Friday, not including flights that might be cancelled or delayed due to aircraft being out of position.
British Airways itself had 341 flights scheduled to land at Heathrow on Friday.
“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.”
The impact was immediate.
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 U.S. were turning around mid-air and returning to their point of departure.
