Flight schedules at Heathrow are not expected to return to normal for several days following a power outage at the UK’s busiest airport, which has grounded up to 300,000 passengers.
The airport is not expecting to re-open until after midnight today, at the earliest.
Police are on site at Heathrow preventing people entering the airport during the power outage, which was caused by a fire at a substation that serves Heathrow.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Times Radio: “There are backup mechanisms in place, but given the scale of this fire, the backup mechanisms also seem to have been knocked out.”
He said there are ongoing attempts to fire up a second backup generator to restore power to Heathrow and the surrounding area.
In the meantime, flights are being cancelled or diverted to other UK and European airports, with nearby Gatwick accepting seven Heathrow-bound flights early this morning. Gatwick said it couldn’t say how many flights it will be able to take today, but a spokesperson said: “We will support as much as we can.”
British Airways, Heathrow’s biggest airline, is advising customers not to travel to the airport. In a statement, it added: “This will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers and we’re working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond.”
Virgin Atlantic has cancelled all its flights from Heathrow till 21.30 today, with the rest of today’s scheduled currently under review. It is advising affected customers not to travel to Heathrow or their departure airport if flying to the London airport.
Virgin is also urging customers not to call its contact centre, but instead to check their flight status on its website. It said affected customers will be emailed with rebooking information.
The last time Heathrow faced disruption on this scale was during the ash cloud crisis in 2010, and experts have predicted this could cost them £20 million to £30 million.
Advantage Travel Partnerships CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said said the Heathrow power outage will have ‘a very significant knock-on impact on all travel for the next few days’.
“Friday is typically the busiest day for travel with people returning from business trips, going on holiday or visiting friends and family, so all airports will likely be incredibly busy. Therefore, the reality is that the London airports would have been busy today already and this incident will exacerbate it further,” she said.
“This is very much an evolving situation so we would advise travellers in the first instance to follow the advice being given by Heathrow and not travel to the airport today.
“For anyone that has a flight booked out of Heathrow today, and had booked via a travel agent, I recommend contacting them in the first instance as they will be able to provide the latest information and advice. If you haven’t booked with a travel agent, then try and get in touch with the airlines and they will advise you on when you might be able to travel.”
ABTA has issued detailed guidance for affected passengers, pointing out that airlines must offer the choice of a replacement flight ‘at the earliest opportunity’ or a refund and provide customers with care and assistance while they wait.
It also reminded those customers who’ve booked package holidays that they have additional protection, including the right to a refund or an alternative holiday if there is a ‘significant change’ to their travel plans, such as a delay of 12 hours on a two-week trip.
The full ABTA guidance can be found here.
Scottish travel trade body the SPAA is urging travellers not to go to the airport without confirming the status of their travel plans. “Heathrow is a vital connection point for travellers from Scotland heading to destinations around the world,” it said. “Today’s closure is causing severe disruption, and the situation is changing rapidly. Travellers with connecting flights – particularly those heading long haul – should not assume that their journey will go ahead as planned.”
