London Heathrow Airport Shuts After Large Fire Nearby

• Heathrow Airport can be closed all day Friday after a close-by fireplace triggered an influence outage.
• Heathrow is advising passengers to not journey to the airport and to contact their airline for extra info.
• Greater than 1,300 flights are anticipated to be affected.

London’s Heathrow Airport can be closed by way of Friday after a big fireplace close by led to a “important energy outage,” the airport mentioned.

“Resulting from a hearth at {an electrical} substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a major energy outage,” Heathrow Airport mentioned in an announcement shared on X early Friday morning native time.

“To keep up the security of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow can be closed till 23h59 on 21 March.”

The airport, one of many world’s busiest, added that passengers are suggested to not journey to the airport and will contact their airline for extra info. Final yr, 83.9 million folks flew by way of Heathrow, up 6% from the earlier yr.

Flightradar24, a dwell flight-tracking platform, advised Enterprise Insider that 120 flights already within the air are anticipated to be diverted from the airport. The platform mentioned least 1,351 flights can be affected.

“It will clearly have a major affect on our operation and our prospects and we’re working as rapidly as attainable to replace them on their journey choices for the subsequent 24 hours and past,” a British Airways consultant mentioned in an announcement to BI. British Airways is without doubt one of the airport’s important airways.

The airline is redirecting flights already on their strategy to Heathrow to different UK airports, the assertion added.

The hearth is at an electrical energy substation in Hayes in West London, about 1.5 miles from the airport. The reason for the fireplace is just not but identified.

Ten fireplace engines and about 70 firefighters have been known as to a hearth, the London Hearth Brigade mentioned in a publish on X.

Photos present massive flames and plumes of thick black smoke. Native media reported that tens of 1000’s of houses within the space are with out energy.

Round 150 folks have been evacuated to this point and a 200-meter cordon is in place, the London Hearth Brigade mentioned.

“This can be a protracted incident, with crews remaining on scene all through the evening,” the Brigade wrote on its web site. “As we head into the morning, disruption is anticipated to extend, and we urge folks to keep away from the realm wherever attainable.”

London has a number of different worldwide airports together with Gatwick, town’s second-busiest airport, and Stansted, identified for funds flights and flights to Europe.

Do you’ve gotten a narrative to share about how your plans are affected by Heathrow’s shutdown? Contact reporter Pete Syme at psyme@businessinsider.com.