Europe’s busiest airport closes after blaze at electrical substation

London’s Heathrow airport will be shut all day on Friday, with more than 1,300 flights likely cancelled after a nearby fire triggered a major power cut.

Passengers were warned that flights could be disrupted for several days as the airport waited for power to be restored, after what the government ministers said was an “unusual and unprecedented incident”.

The London fire brigade was called shortly after 11pm on Thursday to a fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London, with power cut to thousands of homes as well as Europe’s busiest airport.

More than 70 firefighters tackled the blaze, which the brigade said at 8am was under control. The cause of the fire is unknown, but sources indicated there was no immediate suspicion of foul play.

The closure of Heathrow, Britain’s biggest airport and one of the busiest in the world, is expected to immediately affect more than 1,350 flights to and from the airport on Friday.

According to the online flight tracking service FlightRadar24, 120 flights to Heathrow were in the air when the closure was announced.

Airline operations around the world will be affected, with the knock-on effects expected to last several days. The immediately cancelled or rerouted flights on Friday had capacity for up to 291,000 passengers, with a significant proportion connecting onwards, as well as carrying freight.

Arriving flights were diverted to other airports around Britain and Europe while others returned to their departure points. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic diverted some flights to nearby Gatwick, which said its flights were operating as normal.

On Friday morning, Qantas diverted its Perth-London flight to Paris and a United Airlines New York flight was sent to Shannon, Ireland. Some flights from the US were turning around mid-air and returning to their point of departure. (UK Guardian)