AsianFin -- London’s Heathrow Airport will remain closed all day Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation triggered a major power outage, disrupting operations at one of the world's busiest travel hubs and affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The fire broke out overnight in Hayes, just north of Heathrow, with large firefighting teams working to contain the blaze. In a statement, Heathrow warned that disruptions would persist “over the coming days” and urged passengers to avoid traveling to the airport.
As the main hub for airlines such as IAG SA’s British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow typically handles over 1,400 flights and 200,000 passengers daily. Approximately 120 inbound flights, including those operated by Qantas Airways Ltd., Delta Air Lines Inc., and American Airlines, were diverted or forced to return to their points of origin, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.
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