Not back in operation until midnight London Heathrow Airport closed due to power outage +++ People should not approach the airport under any circumstances
A substation near the major airport burns during the night. A number of flights are diverted in the morning. Passengers have to reschedule.
21.03.2025, 04:23
21.03.2025, 07:58
dpa
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- London's major airport Heathrow has been closed overnight due to a power failure.
- The closure will last until 11.59 p.m. (local time) for safety reasons, the airport announced.
- Passengers were advised not to travel to the airport and to contact their airline.
London's major airport Heathrow was closed during the night due to a power failure. The closure will last until 11.59 p.m. (local time) for safety reasons, the airport announced on Platform X. Passengers were instructed not to travel to the airport and to contact their airline.
Switzerland is also affected: 14 flights from Zurich, 10 from Geneva and four from Euroairport Basel have been canceled.
Swiss issued the following statement in a recent letter: "London Heathrow Airport is closed today, March 21, 2025, due to a fire and associated power outage."
Swiss is therefore canceling all flights from Zurich and Geneva to the major British airport for today, Friday. This concerns a total of 10 flights to and from Geneva with 944 passengers booked and 14 flights to and from Zurich with 1,969 passengers booked.
"As a precautionary measure, all flights from Switzerland to and from London Heathrow have been closed for sale for tomorrow, Saturday, March 22." Swiss very much regrets the inconvenience this is causing passengers. "We hope that the situation at London Heathrow will return to normal as soon as possible," the letter states.
A number of flights had to be diverted. According to the tracking portal Flightradar24, around 120 aircraft were in the air in the early morning and either had to fly to alternative airports or return to their departure airport.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,300 flights may be affected by the closure, which could cause disruption for tens of thousands of travelers, CNN reports.
The reason for the power outage was a fire at a substation that supplies the airport, Heathrow Airport added. The London Fire Brigade responded to the burning substation in Hayes with ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters, as reported by X. According to media reports, thousands of households in the region were left without power.
According to the Daily Mail, more than 16,300 households in west London were also affected by the power cut. The fire is still burning uncontrollably.
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: "Due to a large fire at a nearby substation, there is a significant power outage throughout Heathrow Airport."
There will be significant disruption over the next few days
"While the fire department is responding to the incident, we do not know exactly when power can be reliably restored," and continues: "To ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23:59 on March 21, 2025."
The airport expects significant disruption in the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until it is reopened, the spokesperson continued.