UPDATE: London Heathrow Airport has reopened and is fully operational after a fire at a nearby electrical station forced the airport to be shut down for over 16 hours.
The airport promised, “We have hundreds of additional colleagues on hand in our terminals and we have added flights to today’s schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers traveling through the airport.”
As outrage grew over Heathrow’s lack of backup systems and reliance on a single power station, Thomas Woldbye, the airport’s chief executive, pushed back:
“Contingencies of certain sizes we cannot guard ourselves against 100%, and this is one of them. This has been a major incident. I mean, short of anybody getting hurt, this is as big as it gets for our airport and we are actually coming back quite fast.”
While rumors of Russian sabotage have been swirling, thus far investigators have found no evidence of foul play.
In an unprecedented move, London Heathrow Airport (LHR) closed entirely for 16 hours following what officials described as a “significant power outage.” The closure threw air travel into chaos, with thousands of flights canceled or diverted and tens of thousands of passengers left stranded.
London Heathrow Airport Reopens After Being Closed Much Of March 21, 2025
Let’s unpack what happened and what this means for you if you were planning to travel through Heathrow today.
The Incident
Late Thursday night, a fire erupted at an electrical substation in Hayes, approximately 1.5 miles from Heathrow. The London Fire Brigade dispatched ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters to combat the blaze, leading to the evacuation of approximately 150 residents from nearby properties as a precautionary measure. The fire caused a significant power outage, affecting not only the airport but also thousands of homes in the surrounding area.
Airport Closure and Immediate Impact
Heathrow Airport officials announced the closure on X, stating: “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.” They advised passengers not to travel to the airport and to contact their airlines for further information.
The sudden shutdown led to immediate chaos, with numerous flights either canceled or diverted to other airports. For instance, a Qantas flight from Perth was redirected to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and a United Airlines flight from New York was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland. Passengers on these flights faced unexpected layovers and additional travel complications.
Passenger Experience: Frustration and Confusion
The abrupt closure left thousands of passengers stranded both at Heathrow and at other airports. Many expressed frustration over the lack of timely information and the challenges in rebooking flights. Social media platforms were inundated with complaints about long lines at customer service counters, inadequate accommodations, and the overall lack of clear communication from airlines and airport authorities...though I’m not sure now is the time to be hurling blame toward any party.
https://twitter.com/wallstreetsheet/status/1902920313429537038
Airline Response And Compensation
Airlines operating out of Heathrow, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, are facing significant operational challenges. While some carriers offered hotel accommodations and meal vouchers, the sheer volume of affected passengers has made it impossible to serve everyone in a timley way. Under UK and European Union regulations, passengers may be entitled to compensation for canceled or significantly delayed flights; however, I think it’s safe to say the extraordinary nature of this incident will provide a force majeure exception to delay compensation, though not for meals and lodging. Affected travelers should contact their respective airlines to inquire about refunds, rebooking options, or compensation…I recommend X or WhatsApp as the generally fastest way to reach an agent.
Here’s a new video from British Airways CEO Sean Doyle:
A statement from Sean Doyle, the CEO and Chairman of British Airways, following the disruption at London Heathrow Airport on 21 March 2025. pic.twitter.com/OLiCeFrM6L
— British Airways (@British_Airways) March 21, 2025
Technical Investigation And Safety Measures
The exact cause of the fire at the electrical substation remains under investigation. Authorities have not ruled out any possibilities, including technical failures or external factors. The London Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner, Pat Goulbourne, described the incident as “a highly visible and significant” event (see video above), emphasizing that firefighters are working diligently under challenging conditions to control the blaze. A 200-meter safety cordon has been established around the site, and residents in the vicinity have been advised to keep windows and doors closed due to the significant amount of smoke produced by the fire.
Broader Implications and Future Considerations
Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest international travel hubs, handles over 80 million passengers annually. This incident highlights the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to unforeseen events and underscores the need for robust contingency planning. The closure’s ripple effects are expected to disrupt global flight schedules for several days, affecting not only passengers but also cargo operations and airline logistics. We should “let the dust settle” first, but this is an issue we will return to.
Those with imminent travel plans through Heathrow should proactively contact their airlines to explore alternative arrangements. Avoid traveling to the airport until normal operations resume. London Underground service to Heathrow on the Elizabeth Line has been suspended.
Gradual Reopening and Long-Term Impact
Heathrow officials announced early this morning that partial operations would resume within 24 hours, but it could take days—or even weeks—for schedules to fully recover. The ripple effects of the closure will impact global flight networks for the foreseeable future. A Heathrow spokesperson said:
“We are prioritizing the restoration of critical systems and coordinating with airlines to ensure a safe and orderly resumption of service.”
For now, travelers are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport and to explore alternative travel options where possible. With flights set to resume at 7:00 pm local time, here’s a list of BA flights that may still operate today:
Updated statement from British Airways following the disruption at London Heathrow Airport on 21 March pic.twitter.com/ApBSFezdoC
— British Airways (@British_Airways) March 21, 2025
CONCLUSION
As someone who flies through Heathrow regularly, it’s difficult to overstate the scale of this disruption. Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports, and its temporary closure will likely constitute the most disruptive day in Heathrow’s history.
The coming days will reveal more about the cause and handling of this incident—but for now, Heathrow passengers are left with little more than uncertainty and frustration.
Stay tuned for more updates as the situation develops.
That’s a lot of flights from the U.S. that had to return back. I can’t even imagine the logistics of all this. Clearly one of the major meltdowns of 2025. What’s odd is that how does a fire a few miles away shut down the busiest airport? I am unclear as to how this affected Heathrow operations other than rail?
Over dependence on electricity and computers .
Old infrastructure. They should have added in LHR substation so the grid could have diverted this angst.
Blame Netzero “efforts.”
They knowingly had insufficient backup infrastructure.
Some flights are still on their way to LHR. Will they divert?
The United SFO-LHR flight that normally arrives around 2 pm has been cancelled.
The Virgin Atlantic SFO-LHR flight that normally arrives at around 10:30 pm is one-third of the way to LHR.
The Air Canada YVR-LHR flight has departed.
They are all diverting. I am hearing that Canada is getting a lot of them. As crews time out etc Canada becomes the defacto safety net for this. Given the timing, only the earliest from the US would divert to Ireland, France, etc. Most would be over Canada – or late enough from the U.S. to never even depart.
This is why a major city can’t be served by just one international airport. Imagine there were 4-5 other airports in the London metropolitan area, each serving million, even tens of mullions of passengers per year.
Capacity could be diverted, causing just a mild inconvenience.
Gatwick, City, Luton, Stansted?
A few flights diverted to Gatwick but not as many as I would think. Gatwick is crowded already.
Goose Bay got at least 2 diversions, AC and UA
Shannon got a few
Qantas diverted possibly 2 flights to CDG
FRA got a few, including SQ flights
BCN very few
BHX and MAN very few
Quite a few US originating flight went back to major US hubs. One AA flight went to Bangor, Maine.
And Southend
What an expensive mess. Shocking that LHR doesn’t have its own substation for security reasons.
Maybe now that USAID money is drying up, the environmental Nazis won’t have as much influence and governments can build robust infrastructure.
Anyone who needs to leave the city today should check flights out of BHX, it’s only one hour on a direct train from Euston and will certainly be less inundated than the airports with London in their names.
BHX is decent with flights (4x daily to AMS, CDG via AFKL, 3-4X daily to ZRH and FRA via LH/LX, 5x daily to DUB via EI in addition to FR, LS. U2, BY having operating bases) and the Aspire lounge is serviceable. The only issue is that sometimes the lines for security can be horrid, so I recommend that you get priority security (through status or pay 10 pounds or so extra).
According to reports, there is insufficient backup power because of Netzero “efforts.”
They replaced diesel generators with something called biomass generators (burning poop like cavemen?) and now untold extra gallons of Jet A will be burned to try and restore order and get people home.
But not to worry…Starmer will arrest a few pensioners for Facebook memes and that will solve the problem.
@AndrewH … +1 . He will also arrest those who publicly bow in prayer .
Heathrow is a ghastly airport with lousy forgotten infrastructure and venal profit-centred management with no interest in improving the experience.
Best thing for all will be if Heathrow is permanently closed after this. Customers can get on the Eurostar to CDG and will still be at their destination in good time.
The organization of Heathrow always reminds me of the Monty Python sketch with an architect showing off his new design in which people walk along a corridor onto a series of rotating knives… “Yes,” he says, “I mainly design abattoirs”
Yeah, this will take couple of weeks to get back to normal.
A very similar thing happened in Atlanta in 2017.
All the more reason to expand Gatwick. It has two runways, but one is right next to the other. Need to add a 2nd full service runway and give competition to the abomination called Heathrow.
Well, I was supposed to be traveling from Warsaw on Lot. I only got a text from Lot that my flight was cancelled after boarding my flight from RZE to WAW. That was at 5:40 AM on Friday. Heathrow was already closed from around midnight.
I landed at WAW, I went to the airline desc (with no help from any Lot personal on the ground to find it). They told me that I can rebook on 20:40 flight (which was later cancelled). I couldn’t go with that flight because I’m Jewish and I had to be home before Shabbos.
They told me there that they can only rebook me on new flights to the same airport, so they didn’t even try to rebook me on other airlines arriving at other airports. They told me that if I wanted I can pay myself for a new flight and get refunded on the cancelled flight.
I found a Ryanair flight from Lodz to Stansted for quite cheap, It was only around £130 for last minute (and it was a full flight). I took an Uber to Lodz that was around £200 split between 4 people. And I arrived home at around 1PM.
Nice job saving your trip.
I heard Heathrow only has 2 runways. O’hare has 5 lol.
Not really possible to go above 2 given the congested West London suburban area, and Britain’s busiest motorway being next to the airport.
I was caught up in this bloody mess. Still stranded in LA until Sunday. My brother says it’s because they’re too cheap–they wouldn’t get their annual bonuses for spending too much to avoid a black swan
I am not an electrical engineer. But I did oversee two projects. The first to replace a substation located on my farm that fed about 100, 000. The second to replace a substation on a military base .Both about the same WWII age as LHR These things need to done. LHR could have had the system rerouted in minutes had they had a separate substation. It’s is expensive but makes for a secure system and less costly than what we have seen.
+1, I am an electrical engineer in total agreement. The airport CEO is 100% wrong, this occurrence should never have happened and could have been foreseen. A backup feed from the grid and substation to the airport would have prevented this single point of failure “failure”, basic electrical engineering. Airports all over the world should be looking into their power (and water) delivery to ensure they are not venerable, the good ones already did many years ago and have plans…..
Sorry, for venerable read vulnerable (or at risk), I am an engineer !!!. Better with numbers than words……
Thank you for the back up! Not an engineer but have learned so much from you.
Based on my past visits to Heathrow, I feel the airport is more focused on duty free shopping and food courts which generate supplemental revenue. The rest (gates, terminals) look like something out of a mid 70’s socialist state.
You get a subtle message of the true focus of Heathrow management.
I think that’s right, which is why I consider lounges so important at LHR.