Heathrow airport, the largest in London, is stopped this Friday, March 21. In question? A fire in an electrical substation of the British capital.
Heathrow airport, the most important in London and the busiest in Europe, is completely stopped this Friday, March 21. The fault has a fire in an electrical substation in Hayes, in the suburbs of the British capital, which resulted in a power cut affecting the entire airport.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 11:59 pm on March 21,” wrote London airport on social network X, recommending that passengers do not go there: “Passenger is advisable not to go to the airport and contact their airline for more information. We apologize for the embarrassment caused”. No departure or landing will take place this Friday at Heathrow airport, but “serious disturbances” are also expected in the next few days “.
If the airport stopping is one of the largest consequences of the fire that has started in the London suburbs, it is not the only one. “A large number of households and local businesses” are assigned according to a spokesperson for firefighters, Pat Goulbourne. After The Guardian16,000 households are without electricity and a hundred people were evacuated from housing after the fire report.
The fire of the electrical substation was reported on the night of Thursday to Friday, around 11:25 p.m. The intervention of firefighters is still underway this Friday morning with more than sixty mobilized fire soldiers. It is not yet possible to estimate the time at which the current will be restored at the airport and in the rest of London according to an email from the spokesperson for Heathrow airport transmitted to Reuters. “Our firefighters work tirelessly, in difficult conditions, to control the fire as quickly as possible,” said Pat Goulbourne.
The priority is to control the fire, but investigations in the causes of the fire should take place. For the time being, the origin of the fire remains unknown. It is not even specified if it is a criminal act or an accident.
Heathrow Airport welcomes more than 80 million passengers per year, owes 230,000 per day, with around 1,300 daily landings and takeoff. The establishment of the establishment, which is the second busiest airport in the world after that of Dubai, will cause disruption on air traffic. Many planes en route for Heathrow are diverted to British or European airports according to Flightradar24, which spokesperson Ian Petchenik explains that “this will disturb the activities of airlines around the world”.