British flag carrier British Airways experienced a significant number of cancellations and diversions on Friday due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation that caused Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, to shut down. The airport was closed with all 1,332 scheduled flights canceled, leaving many stranded travelers relieved when it reopened sooner than expected. Around 100 flights were in the air en route to Heathrow when it shut down, leading to diversions across the UK, North America, the Middle East, and Europe. The airline expects around 85% of its Saturday schedule to run, but around 90 flights still face potential cancellations or severe delays. The National Grid restored power to all customers, including Heathrow, and is working with authorities to determine the cause of the fire.
Heathrow’s CEO acknowledged the limitations of the airport’s contingency plan and apologized for the disruption caused, noting the challenges of mitigating risks of this scale. The incident highlighted critical vulnerabilities and raised concerns over contingency planning at such a vital transport hub. Despite the challenges, Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye expressed pride in the response that got the airport back up and running. He emphasized that certain contingencies of this size cannot always be fully guarded against, indicating that the airport’s liability coverage may not extend to incidents like the fire. Overall, the incident at Heathrow caused significant disruptions, but efforts are being made to prevent similar incidents in the future and improve the airport’s resilience to unforeseen events.
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