The police say there are no signs of crime, highlighted anti -terrorism agents
Heathrow airport in Britain was closed on Friday after a large fire in a nearby substation cut off its energy, leaving passengers trapped around the world and annoying airlines that questioned as such a crucial infrastructure could fail.
Huge orange flames and black smoke columns climbed into the sky around 11 pm on Thursday, when a fire took over the substation, cutting the power supply and the busiest airport backup system in Europe and the busiest fifth in the world.
Police said that although there was no evidence of crime, they kept their minds open and that anti -terrorism agents would lead investigations, given the critical nature of infrastructure and their abilities.
Airline experts said that the last time European airports suffered such large -scale interruptions was in the cloud of Icelandic ashes in 2010, which caused the cancellation of about 100,000 flights.
The sector now faces the prospect of a financial blow that will cost tens of millions of pounds and a likely fight over who should pay.
“You would think they would have significant reserve power,” a high executive of a European airline told Reuters.
The Fire Department said the cause of the fire was not known, but that 25,000 liters of cooling oil in the substation transformer caught fire. He had controlled the fire early in the morning with the transformer soaked in white fire -fighting foam.
Heathrow should deal with 1,351 flights on Friday, carrying up to 291,000 passengers. The closure forced the flights to divert to other airports in Britain and throughout Europe, while many long-distance flights returned to their starting point.
Passengers retained in London and facing the prospect of days of interruptions were striving to make alternative travel arrangements.
“When we first came here, (it was) very exciting and hopeful,” said Beau Mahr, 21 of the American State of Iowa. “Now that we have to wait, it’s kind of stressful.”
Experts in the sector warned that some forced passengers to land in Europe may have to stay in traffic rooms if they do not have the documentation to leave the airport.
Global flight schedules will also be affected as aircraft and crew will be out of place, forcing carriers to quickly reconfigure their networks.
Hotel prices in Heathrow increased, with reserve sites offering rooms for 500 pounds ($ 645), about five times normal prices.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for more information,” said Heathrow, adding that the airport would be closed until midnight on Friday. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Reserve energy
Airline executives, electric engineers and passengers questioned how Britain’s gateway to the world could be forced to close because of a fire, however much.
Heathrow and other major London airports have been hit by other interruptions in recent years, more recently by a failed automated gate and a collapse in the air traffic system, both in 2023.
Images on social networks showed the terminals of the airport almost in darkness at night, and British energy minister Ed Miliband said it seemed that the “catastrophic” fire had prevented the operation of the electricity system.
Willie Walsh, head of the global airline agency Iata and former British Airways chief, said Heathrow disappointed passengers once again.
“How is critical infrastructure – of national and global importance – is totally dependent on a single source of energy without an alternative,” he said. “If this is the case – as it seems – then it’s a clear airport planning failure.”
Power supply experts said the type of fire that occurred at night was extremely rare, but added that there should be enough alternative sources for everyone to get online again quickly.
“We are quite confident that they will be able to restore until tomorrow,” said Nicholas Rigby, a commercial engineer at NRG Management Consultancy.
Prime Minister Keir Strmer said he was receiving regular updates on the incident.
Midnight flight climbing
According to the interruption scale was clear, flights operated by airlines such as Jetblue, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air India, Delta Air, Qantas, United Airlines, British Airways, owned by IAG, and Virgin were diverted or returned to their home airports in the middle of the night, according to data from Cirium flight analysis company.
Qantas Airways sent its Perth flight to Paris, a New York United Airlines flight to Shannon, Ireland, and a United Airlines flight from San Francisco should land in Washington, DC instead of London.
“Heathrow is one of the top hubs in the world,” said Ian Petchenik, spokesman for the FlightRadar24 flight tracking site24. “This will stop the operations of airlines around the world.”
British Airways, Heathrow’s largest carrier, had 341 flights scheduled to land there on Friday.
Actions of your mother company IAG (ICAG.L) were hit, along with actions by other airlines. Easyjet and Ryanair made extra flights or used larger planes to help deal with the accumulation of orders.
77 airlines have a total of 669 flights scheduled to land at Heathrow airport on Friday. British Airways has 341 flights alone.
Heathrow’s spokesman said there was no clarity about when the energy would be restored and that they expected significant interruptions in the coming days.
Airport owners include French Ardian, Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, as well as other investors in Australia, China and Spain.
In London’s soil, thousands of properties were also out of power. Business in the area include data centers and logistics warehouses.
Originally published by Reuters on 21/03/2025
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Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/03/21/turbulencia-global-nos-voos-com-o-fechamento-do-aeroporto-de-heathrow-em-londres-devido-a-um-grande-incendio/
