Heathrow Closure Disrupts Global Travel: Key Updates and What You Need to Know | CNN

Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, faced chaos recently due to a significant power outage. The outage was caused by a fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, just a few miles from the airport. The flames disrupted power supply, forcing over 1,000 flights to be canceled or diverted, impacting more than 145,000 passengers.

Heathrow’s CEO, Thomas Woldbye, described the situation as severe and apologized for the disruption. While he expects the airport to return to normal operations soon, the backlog from canceled flights is likely to cause delays for days to come.

The fire, which involved a transformer with 25,000 liters of oil, drew about 70 firefighters and ten fire trucks. Despite efforts to control the blaze, firefighters worked on-site throughout the day. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported.

Economically, this incident could have far-reaching impacts. The UK Civil Aviation Authority has advised affected passengers on their rights to refunds or alternative flights, and airlines are facing potential losses amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds. Shares of several airlines dropped by as much as 5% in response to the disruption.

As travelers shared their experiences on social media, reactions varied from frustration to calm acceptance. Many passengers, stranded in airports or diverted to other destinations, expressed their hopes for quick resolutions. In contrast, some local residents enjoyed an unexpected quietness as the usual aircraft noise was replaced by birdsong.

Experts highlight the need for backup supply plans, particularly at critical infrastructure like Heathrow. Aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas noted that the lack of a functioning backup system during this outage is concerning, especially given the airport’s importance to the UK economy.

In the meantime, other UK airports, like Gatwick, stepped in to handle some of the overflow, but this won’t completely alleviate the congestion caused by the outage. The focus now is on restoring normal service and ensuring that such incidents are effectively managed in the future.

For further details, you can check the official updates from the Civil Aviation Authority.

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