British Airways crew members arrive at Terminal 5 in Heathrow on March 21, 2025 in London, England.
Peter Nicholls | Getty Images
Heathrow airport in London reopened on Saturday, but travelers are warned of significant delays while airlines rush to take over the flights and return the blocked passengers.
Europe’s busiest airport was closed for most of Friday After a power failure after a fire in an electrical by nearby, causing the cancellation of more than 800 flights inside and outside the airport, according to the Flightaware flight site.
The first flight took off from the airport on Friday evening, however, and the airport starting panel Indicates that the majority of flights should be executed as planned for Saturday.
“Thefts resumed in Heathrow after yesterday’s failure,” the airport on its website said on Saturday.
“If you are traveling today, we always advise you Contact your airline For the latest flight information before going to the airport. We apologize for disruption and appreciate your patience while operations are coming back to normal. “”
National GRID said on Saturday that the power supply had been restored to all customers, including Heathrow, allowing operations to resume.
“We are currently implementing measures to help further improve the resilience levels of our network,” the public service company said in a press release.
“We are deeply sorry for the disturbances caused and continue to work closely with the government, Heathrow and the police to understand the cause of the incident.”
London metropolitan police said it was “no indication of a unfair game”, the anti -terrorist division would now carry out the fire investigation.
“Given the location of the sub-station and the impact that this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the MET counter-terrorism command is now investigating,” said force in a Publish on X.
‘Expect delays’
Airlines rush to resume flights and bring thousands of passengers blocked to their final destinations.
British Airways The airline was the most affected by the incident, with more than half of its Friday schedule. He said he expects to manage the majority of his Heathrow calendar on Saturday, but that customers should expect delays.
Floor crews load cargo and supplies on airlines, including Lufthansa Group, Emirates, Austrian Airlines and British Airways, while they parked at Tom Bradley International Terminal (Tbit) at Los Angeles International Airport (Lax) in El Seguundo, California, September 11.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
“We plan that around 85% of our Heathrow calendar on Saturday March 22 will take place as planned, but recovering an operation of our size is extremely complex, so our customers will probably suffer delays,” the airline said in a statement on Saturday.
“We advise customers to travel to the airport as usual, unless otherwise indicated. If your flight will be disturbed, we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know what you need to do.”
He added that he offered “flexible options”, allowing those who go to Heathrow this weekend to straighten a different date for free.
Heathrow airport estimated 1,300 takeoff and landing at airport per day, according to its website. He managed a record 83.9 million passengers Last year – an increase of almost 6% compared to 2023.
The incident raised questions about the airport dependence on a single source of food.
Willie Walsh – The old CEO of British Airways -Owner Iag And now CEO of Iata, a group of the air transport industry – criticized Heathrow’s airport for its “total planning failure” and questioned that would cover the costs of the resulting disturbances.
“We have to find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone collect the tab when the infrastructure fails,” he said. “Until it happens, Heathrow is very little encouraged to improve.”
