Flights start landing at Heathrow after fire disrupts global travel

Operations resumed late on Friday after airport finds a fix to power cut that led to more than 1,000 cancelled services

Flights resume at Heathrow Airport following a 14-hour shutdown. Getty Images

Flights started landing again at London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday morning after a fire caused a 14-hour shutdown that disrupted travel worldwide and caused ripple effects for the aviation industry.

British Airways' BA56 from Johannesburg, South Africa, was the first regular passenger flight to land at Heathrow since Thursday evening. It touched down at around 4.30am.

“Flights have resumed at Heathrow following yesterday's power cut,” Heathrow said on Saturday in a post on X. “If you are due to travel today, we advise you to still contact your airline for your latest flight information before heading to the airport.”

Emirates said it would resume flight operations starting with EK07 from Dubai to London Heathrow on Saturday.

Etihad Airways said it would “progressively” resume its full flight schedule between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow during the day. It advised passengers to allow extra time before their flights as the airport was expected to be “very busy”.

Heathrow restarted some flights late on Friday when it said priority would be given to the “repatriation and relocation of aircraft”, after London-bound passengers were diverted to France, Ireland and the Netherlands, and out-of-kilter schedules threatened to cause days of disruption. The airport said it hoped to run a “full operation” on Saturday.

Flag carrier British Airways (BA) was given clearance for eight long-haul flights to depart Heathrow from 7pm on Friday, a statement said.

Heathrow was paralysed on Friday after an overnight fire at an electric substation forced the closure of all four terminals. More than 1,000 flights were cancelled – including over a dozen between London and the UAE.

Britain's National Grid said on Friday afternoon it had “reconfigured” a power network to “resupply the parts of Heathrow” connected to the substation in west London. It called this an “interim solution”.

Passengers were bracing for days of disruption as crews and flights were knocked off schedule. About 120 flights that were already in the air when Heathrow shut down either turned back or diverted to cities including Paris and Amsterdam.

BA, one of the most affected airlines, said the power cut would affect its flights “for many days to come” even once power was fully restored. Chief executive Sean Doyle said more than 100,000 people had been due to fly BA on Friday alone.

“Our crews are only legally allowable to operate for a certain number of hours over any given period of time which adds further complexity into our planning,” he said on Friday. “That means even if things do get back up and running soon, we will have the logistical issue of getting new crews out to operate those aircraft.”

Investigators said there was no initial sign of foul play linked to the fire, which was smoking throughout Friday. But counter-terrorism detectives were leading the investigation because of the significance of the case.

The government said it would “look harder” at how airports can withstand shocks. However, Heathrow said that as an energy consumer on the scale of a small city it could not possibly have backup power for all its operations.

Diesel generators and emergency power supplies “all operated as expected” but were only designed to allow for safe landing and evacuation, not to run the whole airport, Heathrow said. It said it would “take time” to restore power to all affected areas.

All customers scheduled to fly over the weekend would be offered a free rebooking for a later date, Heathrow said. It said it was “working hard to review our long-haul schedule as well as the implications for our schedule for tomorrow and beyond”.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the disruption could stretch “over the coming days”. London's other airports, including Gatwick and Stansted, were open on Friday but many flights were fully booked.

Fire in west London shuts down Britain's Heathrow Airport

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'Distress and disruption'

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the chaos caused “distress and disruption”, after the fire cut power to more than 60,000 customers early on Friday. The airport said it had suffered a “significant power cut” due to the blaze at the electrical substation.

Some passengers were confused by messages from airlines telling them their flight was still running.

Elvina Quaison, who planned to fly from London to Dubai, said a message at 8am on Friday told her she could “go ahead as normal”, but in fact there was no way through at Heathrow.

Passengers waited for news as two of Heathrow's terminals remained without power on Friday. AP

Virgin Atlantic asked people not to phone due to high call volumes, saying they should await details of a rebooked flight by email. The British Airways website struggled under the strain as the airline said it was working as quickly as possible to update passengers on their travel options.

Aviation consultant John Strickland said it would take days for Heathrow to recover as crews and aircraft would not be in the right place. “With nothing possible in and out of the airport [on Friday], that’s a massive dislocation to have to recover from,” he said.

“Once an aircraft is in the wrong place with the crew, if you’re away from home you don’t have another crew to suddenly bring the plane and the passengers back. You’ve got to wait until that crew has taken its rest, which is always required after a duty period.”

He likened the disruption to what happened after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, when flights were grounded across the US. He said: “It’s a contained version of 9/11.”

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, said the National Grid had not seen “anything like the scale” of the fire before. He told broadcasters it “makes Heathrow look quite vulnerable, and therefore, we’ve got to learn lessons”.

How many flights were diverted?

About 120 aircraft already in the air were diverted to alternative airports or returned to their points of departure, Flightradar24 said.

Heathrow handled 83.9 million passengers last year – which averages at just under 230,000 passengers a day. It was the largest international hub after Dubai International Airport, according to data from OAG travel data provider.

In airports such as New Delhi flights to Heathrow were shown as cancelled as the impact of a substation fire escalated around the world. EPA

Heathrow is also one of the busiest destinations for Gulf airlines. Emirates cancelled 11 flights between Heathrow and Dubai on Friday. It offered customers the option to rebook to other UK airports, or fly on another day.

Etihad cancelled four flights between London and Abu Dhabi. Flight EY61 was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany, which is about two hours from London by air.

Dozens of other Heathrow-bound flights were diverted. An Australian Qantas Airways flight landed in Paris, while a United Airlines flight from New York headed to Shannon, Ireland.

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said it was putting on extra “rescue flights” between London and Dublin. Eurostar, which runs trains through the Channel Tunnel, increased capacity on its London-to-Paris route.

“The temporary closure of Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest international hubs, represents a seismic disruption to global air travel," Linus Bauer, founder of aviation consultants BAA & Partners, told The National. "The impact is multifaceted, affecting airlines, passengers, cargo logistics, and broader economic activity.”

The airport serves as “a critical connection point for transatlantic and European traffic,” added Mr Bauer. “Any extended closure forces airlines to reroute or cancel hundreds of flights, leading to significant operational costs and logistical challenges.”

What is the knock-on effect on global connections?

Flight diversions to London's secondary airports, such as Gatwick, Stansted – or even major European hubs like Amsterdam or Frankfurt – create congestion and strain their capacities, Mr Bauer said.

“Passengers face delays, potential misconnects, and increased costs, while airlines struggle with crew rotations, aircraft repositioning, and regulatory constraints,” he added.

A short-term disruption of up to a day creates “operational headaches but is manageable”, Mr Bauer said.

The temporary closure of Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest international hubs, represents a seismic disruption to global air travel

Linus Bauer,
founder at BAA & Partners

What is the impact on air cargo?

Beyond passenger travel, Heathrow is a major cargo gateway, handling high-value goods, perishables and time-sensitive shipments.

Disruptions can have “cascading effects” on supply chains, particularly for industries that rely on just-in-time deliveries, such as pharmaceuticals and automotive manufacturing, Mr Bauer.