Heathrow Airport in London was expected to be closed all of Friday, shutting down one of the world’s busiest air hubs and causing worldwide travel disruptions, after it lost power because of a fire nearby.
An average of more than 220,000 passengers a day traveled through the airport last year, on flights offered by dozens of airlines to more than 230 destinations around the globe.
Here is what we know about Heathrow’s closure.
The problem began with a nearby fire.
Heathrow said early Friday that it had been hit by a power outage, caused by a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport.
The London Fire Brigade said that it had been called to the fire, in western London, around 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, and had deployed dozens of firefighters. About 150 people were evacuated from the area. The fire was under control by around 6:30 a.m., the fire brigade said.
Britain’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said it was “too early to say” what caused the fire. He told LBC Radio that so far “there’s no suggestion there is any foul play.”
Counterterrorism specialists are involved in the investigation into what caused the fire, given the location of the substation and the impact on critical national infrastructure, London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
Nearby homes and businesses were also affected by the outage. Some 100,000 homes were without power overnight as a result of the fire, Mr. Miliband said. That number was down to about 4,000 later in the morning.
When will Heathrow reopen?
Heathrow advised passengers not to go to the airport because it would be closed until at least 11:59 p.m. local time on Friday.
The ripple effects are global.
Heathrow’s closure will affect at least 1,351 flights in and out of the airport, according to Flightradar24, a flight tracking website. As the closure was announced early Friday, 120 aircraft were in the air heading to Heathrow.
Some were diverted to alternate airports, including London Gatwick Airport, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Flightradar24 said. Others turned back to the airports they had left.
It could take several days for airlines to rebook passengers. As many as 290,000 people scheduled to fly to or from Heathrow could be affected by the closure, said Mike Arnot, a spokesman for the aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The disruption caused by the fire was expected to continue into Friday morning, said Pat Goulbourne, assistant commissioner at the fire brigade.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” a Heathrow spokesperson said in a statement.
Britain’s laws protect many travelers facing disruptions.
Airlines are required to look after you if you are departing from Britain on any airline or arriving there on a European Union or British airline. If your flight is canceled, you should be offered a choice of a refund or alternate travel arrangements at the earliest opportunity, according to Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority.
If you choose to travel at another time, the airline must provide you with a reasonable amount of food or drink, accommodation if your rerouting is not until the next day, and transport to and from the accommodation.
If your flight has been canceled or diverted, check with your airline on its policies.