Thread: Heathrow airport closed due to huge fire.

Heathrow closure 'catastrophic for air traffic' says aviation expert

Elias Visontay, our transport and urban affairs reporter, has spoken to an aviation expert who says that airlines around the world will now be grappling with a “logistical nightmare”.

Neil Hansford, head of the Sydney-based Strategic Aviation Solutions consultancy, said the closure of Heathrow for a day was “unheard of” for the industry.

While London’s other airports, such as Gatwick and Stansted, would traditionally take diverted flights, Heathrow’s scale means other airports in and near London do not have the capacity to absorb all of its operations.

“These airports can’t take anything close to the volume of Heathrow’s five terminals, where there’s an arrival every minute,” said Hansford.



Hansford said that even if airports such as Amsterdam’s Schiphol and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Orly could handle diverted arrivals, it was unclear what they would do from there to return to their flight schedules.

“If you land in Paris or Amsterdam, or even Manchester, how are you going to get your passengers and crew to London, and how are your outbound passengers and replacement crew going to get to the other city? Trains cannot do all of that moving. Every airline will be facing this problem today. Airlines base their staff in certain cities they fly to, but they may not have any staff in the cities they have to divert to.”

“Beyond positioning the crew, fuel will be a huge problem,” he added. “Airlines plan to refuel at Heathrow which has a huge supply, but other airports that accept diversions likely won’t be able to refuel all of these extra planes.”

Hansford said that even if Heathrow resumed operations by Saturday, the cascading flight disruptions would ripple through global aviation schedules for days, if not longer.

“It’s catastrophic for air traffic,” he said.

THE GUARDIAN

Of course if it happened at Bangkok's major airports* it would be 'Bwaahahahaha...typical Thailand' on here.






*Suwannapoom and Don Mueang, for verbose newbie thickos.

Very unusual for a fire of that magnitude at an electrical sub station. Sabotage by "bad actors", (and Im not talking about johnny depp), would not surprise me.

Heathrow Airport should be made to compensate all the airlines and passengers involved.
I've been stuck for 5 days twice because of Ash cloud and protest at swampy, didn't care about the swampy one because got an extra few day's at home with Gert.

How peculiar. Not what we expect from the UK.

unfortunately it is just what we expect from the uk these days.

UK gone to blazes, odd not PUT IN place?

Originally Posted by taxexile

Wonder who organised the fire

Are you implying that it was the jews?

Originally Posted by taxexile

Very unusual for a fire of that magnitude at an electrical sub station. Sabotage by "bad actors", (and Im not talking about johnny depp), would not surprise me.

You can be sure that anti-terrorism police and the secret service will be all over this. It fits the profile of Russia's undeclared war in Europe.

For such a critical piece of infrastructure to have a single point of failure like this is astonishing. There are people whose job it is to conduct threat and risk assessments on critical infrastructure. Either they failed to do their job or, more likely, their customers chose to ignore their assessment. We'll never know. Unless in the current climate the government thinks it will help to divert attention away from domestic issues. I'm not sure who I'll believe, whichever way it unfolds.

^

Counter-terror police investigate Heathrow airport fire

Downing Street: ‘Questions to answer’ over Heathrow fire
12:05pm
Met: We retain an open mind about cause of the fire
11:12am
Starmer: I’m receiving regular updates on closure
10:49am
Disruption to continue ‘for the next few days’
4:47am
At least 1,351 flights set to be affected

Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the fire that has shut down Heathrow airport.

The Telegraph understands specialist detectives are on site at the North Hyde electrical substation after a blast there shortly before midnight.

The Metropolitan Police said there is “currently no indication of foul play” but said it would “retain an open mind” and that officers from Counter Terrorism Command would now lead the investigation because of “the impact this incident has had on critical infrastructure”.

The officers – also known as ‘SO15’ – will play a key role to try to establish whether or not any hostile agents were involved in triggering the blaze.

It comes as Downing Street said there were “questions to answer” over how a single fire was able to shut down the airport.

A No 10 spokesman said: “There are questions to answer and we will be asking those to ensure the scale of disruption does not happen again.”

At least 1,351 flights going to and from the airport will be impacted by the closure, with up to 291,000 passengers thought to be affected.

Inbound planes have been diverted to other airports, including Shannon in Ireland and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, with aviation experts saying the impact of disruption is “similar to 9/11”.

A Heathrow airport spokesman said the site will be closed all day and will not reopen until midnight tonight.

THE TELEGRAPH

And .....

Putin ally taunts Starmer over Heathrow shutdown
Putin ally and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has taunted Sir Keir Starmer over the Heathrow shutdown.

In a post on X, he said: “I’m looking forward to Russia being blamed for the Heathrow fire. What are you waiting for, Starmer?”.

THE TELEGRAPH

Evidence?

For now, I think the most likely cause is incompetence or carelessness.

Well, it's a substation so the most likely cause of a fire is a massive electrical fault. Human incompetence or carelessness might have played a part I suppose and a terrorist action cannot be ruled out of course but I'll stick with a massive electrical fault that caused damage to the switch-gear with the oil inside escaping and catching fire.

Originally Posted by Neverna

I'll stick with a massive electrical fault

"Don't mention the war"
Faulty Towers

It's not the first time a sub-station has caught fire and caused problems. Although, have to say, taking out Heathrow with one sub-station looks like bad planning.
I can remember a military airfield going down due to sub-station failure in the late 90's. Also Penang Island black-out in the 90's, at the week-end when they had just changed the one way system. It caused total chaos because people were in their cars for the aircon when power went off.

Originally Posted by Neverna

Well, it's a substation so the most likely cause of a fire is a massive electrical fault. Human incompetence or carelessness might have played a part I suppose and a terrorist action cannot be ruled out of course but I'll stick with a massive electrical fault that caused damage to the switch-gear with the oil inside escaping and catching fire.

i think you have all the bases covered, do you bet that way?

Originally Posted by Troy

It's not the first time a sub-station has caught fire and caused problems. Although, have to say, taking out Heathrow with one sub-station looks like bad planning.
I can remember a military airfield going down due to sub-station failure in the late 90's. Also Penang Island black-out in the 90's, at the week-end when they had just changed the one way system. It caused total chaos because people were in their cars for the aircon when power went off.

the UK had the oportunity to address its weaknesses, food, energy, comms, security, water post COVID & UKR but we chose the sticking plaster route, we have little redundancy in any of these as we have allowed the treasury to dictact investment and Govt decision making, i fukin loath these shadowy figures accountable to no one but have done enourmous damange to the UK.

Originally Posted by malmomike77

i think you have all the bases covered, do you bet that way?

I don't gamble, Mike. The last time was probably a flutter on the Grand National over 30 years ago. It's not really my thing.

I know more about electrical switch-gear than anything related to betting, although both have probably changed somewhat since the last time I had anything to do with either.

I'm going with old rather than tampering but the lack of back up for such a crucial asset is ....... not surprising given the shit hole this country has turned into, margins are our rules and businesses are our Gods

Bangkok to London route hit as Heathrow power failure sparks global travel crisis

THE SHUTDOWN of London’s Heathrow Airport is sending shockwaves through global air travel, disrupting thousands of journeys and exposing serious weaknesses in contingency planning at one of the world’s busiest airports.


A fire at the North Hyde electrical substation in Hayes, West London—reported shortly after 11:00pm on Thursday (March 20)—knocked out both primary and backup power to Heathrow, bringing all operations to a standstill. The airport, which typically handles around 1,300 flights per day, remains without full power as of press time as emergency crews continue their efforts.

Thai travellers have been particularly hard-hit. Thai Airways International (THAI) confirmed that four direct flights between Bangkok and London have been cancelled due to the shutdown:


Affected Thai Airways flights:




TG916 (Bangkok to London, scheduled March 21)


TG910 (Bangkok to London, scheduled March 22)


TG911 (London to Bangkok, scheduled March 21)

TG917 (London to Bangkok, scheduled March 21)


One of these flights—TG910—had already taken off from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 12:44am, en route to Heathrow, when the power failure occurred. It was diverted mid-air and landed at Brussels Airport in Belgium.


THAI has urged all passengers to check their flight status on the airline’s website or by calling the THAI Contact Centre on +66 2-356-1111.

Travellers using Middle East carriers—such as Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Oman Air, and Gulf Air—have also faced major disruption. While these airlines don’t operate direct Bangkok–Heathrow flights, their London-bound services via hubs like Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, and Bahrain have been affected by the Heathrow closure.

Numerous flights have been delayed, diverted, or cancelled, resulting in missed onward connections, long layovers, and hotel re-bookings.


British Airways and EVA Air, which both run direct Bangkok–London services, have also experienced delays and cancellations. British Airways is offering flexible rebooking for passengers travelling between March 21 and 23. EVA Air had not issued a statement at the time of writing, though several of its flights were confirmed to be delayed or rerouted.


The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that their Counter-Terrorism Command is leading the investigation into the blaze at the substation. However, there is no suggestion of foul play at this time.

A Met spokesperson said: “Due to the location and the impact on national infrastructure, our Counter-Terrorism Command is involved to utilise its specialist resources.”


London Fire Brigade reported the fire involved a transformer containing 25,000 litres of cooling oil. Emergency services have faced challenges due to high-voltage equipment and lingering hotspots—10% of the fire was still burning on Friday afternoon.


No timeline for reopening


As of Friday evening, Heathrow remained closed with no official estimate for reopening. The airport urged passengers not to travel there and confirmed that only emergency backup systems were functioning—enough to maintain safety systems, but not to resume full operations.


A Heathrow spokesperson said: “We expect significant disruption in the days ahead. We will update passengers as soon as we have more information.”


The airport reportedly consumes as much energy as a small city. Experts have expressed concern that both primary and backup systems could fail simultaneously.

Travel industry experts estimate the shutdown could be costing well over £20 million per day. Paul Charles, CEO of The PC Agency, said: “Heathrow is a critical piece of UK infrastructure. The backup systems should have been failsafe.”


Karen Dee, chief executive of Airlines UK, added: “The priority must be clearing the backlog and restoring normal operations.”


Independent aviation analyst John Strickland noted the long-lasting ripple effects. “Aircraft and crew are now out of place around Europe. Some may remain grounded for days due to rest regulations and logistical hurdles.”


Government promises review of energy resilience


UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said engineers are working to bring a third transformer online, while acknowledging the wider questions the incident raises.

“This event has shown vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure. A full review will be necessary,” he said.


The UK energy regulator, Ofgem, has already launched a formal inquiry. Akshay Kaul, Ofgem’s director of infrastructure, said: “We need to understand exactly what failed and how to prevent it from happening again.”


Professor Tim Green, electrical engineering expert at Imperial College London, commented: “Airports usually have multiple independent power sources. For them all to fail at once is highly unusual and alarming.”


Legal liability unclear


Under UK and EU compensation laws, passengers are entitled to up to €600 plus food and accommodation—but only if the airline is at fault. Since this shutdown was caused by external infrastructure failure, many passengers may not qualify for compensation.

Most airlines are offering rerouting or full refunds, but industry analysts expect prolonged legal battles over liability.


“It’s not yet clear who will pay for the disruption,” said Strickland. “It could be the airport, the energy provider, insurers—or possibly all three. Nobody wants to shoulder the cost alone.”


Passengers are advised to avoid Heathrow, monitor airline websites, and remain flexible. The full restoration of normal services could take several more days.

Bangkok to London route hit as Heathrow power failure sparks global travel crisis - The Pattaya News

How very fucking amateurish.

Even in the sandpit we made sure critical infrastructure didn't have so obvious a single point of failure.

Heathrow, which is owned by a consortium of foreign investors including a French private equity firm, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has been accused of underinvestment over a decade in which it has been fighting for airport expansion.

Those plans have included proposals to build a dedicated power station.

Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is among those who have opposed the expansion of Heathrow, with the rows over a third runway feared to have prevented wider modernisation at the airport.

Well it seems the owners, including those from the sandpit, knew of the vulnerability, but were not prepared to do anything about it, other than installing a net zero compliant biomass powered back up generator with only enough power to supply the runway lighting.