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Heathrow resumes operations as global airlines scramble after shutdown
Reuters
Heathrow Airport has resumed full operations after a significant disruption caused by a fire at an electrical substation, which shut down the airport on Friday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and flights diverted.
Heathrow Airport resumed full operations on Saturday after a fire at an electrical substation caused a major disruption, shutting down Europe's busiest airport the previous day and sparking global travel chaos.
The fire knocked out power to the airport, grounding flights and stranding thousands of passengers. While some flights resumed on Friday evening, the majority of operations were halted, leaving many travelers scrambling for hotel rooms and alternative flights. Airlines faced severe disruptions, working to reallocate jets and crew members to their home bases.
Efforts to assist affected passengers were quickly mobilized, with Heathrow deploying additional staff and adding flights to help accommodate the 10,000 passengers impacted. Despite the chaos, the airport was expected to return to full service by Saturday, according to Heathrow’s Chief Executive Thomas Woldbye.
The incident, which involved the shutdown of 1,351 flights and the diversion of tens of thousands of passengers to other airports, raised questions about the reliability of critical infrastructure at one of the world’s busiest airports. Willie Walsh, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), called the outage a “clear planning failure.”
The British government temporarily lifted restrictions on overnight flights to alleviate congestion, but airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, warned that the closure would continue to disrupt schedules for several days. Many international flights, including those from American Airlines, Qantas, and Air Canada, were also diverted.
In the wake of the disruption, airlines saw a drop in share prices, and hotel prices near Heathrow surged, with rooms reaching up to five times their normal rates.
Authorities, while confirming the incident was not being treated as suspicious, continue to investigate the cause of the fire at the substation. This incident adds to a series of technical failures that have affected Heathrow in recent years, underscoring ongoing challenges with airport infrastructure.
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