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LAST UPDATE | 22 Mar
HEATHROW AIRPORT IS “open and fully operational”, a day after the airport was forced to close after a loss of power caused by a fire at a nearby substation.
Flights resumed at the west London airport yesterday evening and restrictions on overnight flights were temporarily lifted following hours of closure.
The fire at an electrical substation that supplies electricity to Europe’s largest airport led to the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights and impacted thousands of homes.
The Metropolitan Police are not treating the incident as suspicious and the London Fire Brigade’s investigation is focusing on the electrical distribution equipment.
Heathrow also said it has added flights to today;s schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers travelling through the airport.
Flights have resumed at Heathrow following yesterday’s power outage. If you’re due to travel today, we advise you to still contact your airline for your latest flight information before heading to the airport. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/bBUCx1mAMt
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) March 22, 2025
In a statement on social media, Heathrow advised any passengers due to travel today to contact their airline for flight information before heading to the airport.
“We apologise for the disruption and appreciate your patience whilst operations return to normal.”
A further statement from Heathrow said the airport was “open and fully operational”.
“Teams across the airport continue to do everything they can to support passengers impacted by yesterday’s outage at an off-airport power substation,” a spokesperson said.
“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 travelling through the airport.
“Passengers travelling today should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight.”
The airport later added that all terminals and all car parks are open.
Firefighters and workers were still at the electricity substation this morning. The UK’s National Grid said power supplies have been restored to all customers connected to its North Hyde substation, including Heathrow.
“We are now implementing measures to help further improve the resilience levels of our network,” it said. “We are deeply sorry for the disruption caused and are continuing to work closely with the Government, Heathrow and the police to understand the cause of the incident.”
Flights between Dublin Airport and London Heathrow have resumed today (Saturday).
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) March 22, 2025
30 of the 32 flights scheduled between the two airports for today are expected to operate. As of 08.30, British Airways has cancelled 1 inbound (13.05) and 1 outbound (12 noon) service.
As… pic.twitter.com/AoYuXzsHge
Aer Lingus has said it is planning to operate its normal schedule to and from Heathrow today, with departures on Dublin Airport’s website showing flights to the UK airport are on schedule.
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, British Airways (BA) flight BA56 from Johannesburg, South Africa was the first regular passenger flight to land at Heathrow since Thursday evening, touching down at 4.37am.
BA, which has a major presence at Heathrow, said it expects to operate around 85% of its scheduled flights at the airport today.
The UK’s Department of Transport said restrictions on overnight flights were temporarily lifted to help ease congestion.
According to Heathrow’s website, there is no formal ban on night flights but since the 1960s, the Government has placed restrictions on them.
There is an annual limit of 5,800 night-time take-offs and landings between the hours of 11.30pm and 6am as well as a nightly limit, which caps the amount of noise the airport can make at night.
Last night, Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye told reporters: “We expect to be back in full operation (tomorrow), so 100% operation as a normal day.
He said passengers “should come to the airport as they normally would. There’s no reason to come earlier.”
He also apologised to stranded passengers and defended the airport’s response to the situation, saying the incident is as “as big as it gets for our airport” and that “we cannot guard ourselves 100%”.
Counter-terrorism officers from London’s Metropolitan Police have been leading the investigation into the cause of the fire, which did not result in any casualties at the scene.
“After initial assessment, we are not treating this incident as suspicious, although inquiries do remain ongoing,” Commander Simon Messinger said.
Thousands of homes were left without power and more than 100 people were evacuated after a transformer within the substation caught fire.
Heathrow is Europe’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.
This is believed to be the worst disruption at Heathrow since December 2010, when thousands of Christmas getaway passengers camped in the terminals because of widespread cancellations caused by snow.
In April of that year, air travel was grounded across Europe because of an ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcanic eruption.
On Friday, other airports accepted diverted flights originally destined for Heathrow, including Shannon Airport in Co Clare.
With reporting from Press Association
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