What we know
- London's Heathrow Airport was closed for much of the day after a fire at a nearby electrical substation late last night caused a power outage.
- Some flights resumed after the power was partially restored this afternoon, but energy company National Grid UK cautioned it was an "interim solution."
- The airport has urged passengers not to go unless told to by their airline and said it hoped full service would be restored tomorrow.
- More than 1,300 flights and about 200,000 passengers are expected to be affected by the airport's closure, which saw a record 83.9 million passengers last year.
- Heathrow and major airlines have warned of disruptions for the next 24 hours and beyond, with likely implications at airports around the world.
- London Metropolitan Police's counterterrorism unit is investigating the cause of the fire, but it said sabotage was not suspected. The London Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire is "believed to be non-suspicious."
Police not treating fire as suspicious
The Metropolitan Police provided an update on social media saying the fire at the substation does not appear suspicious.
"After initial assessment, our officers are not treating the cause of the fire as suspicious, although enquiries do remain ongoing," police said this evening.
Video shows no activity in Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4
A video posted to X this morning showed no activity in Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4, which is still without power following a fire at a nearby substation.
Heathrow Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye said he expects the airport will be fully operational by tomorrow morning.
Cause of fire 'believed to be non-suspicious'
The cause of the fire at a power substation near Heathrow Airport is "believed to be non-suspicious," according to the London Fire Brigade Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Smith.
"LFB’s investigation will now focus on the electrical distribution equipment," Smith said in an evening update.
The investigation is led by the London Fire Brigade and supported by a scientific advisor and the Metropolitan Police Service, Smith said.
Putin ally says Russia will be blamed for Heathrow Airport fire
Russian politician and Vladimir Putin ally, Dmitry Medvedev, said he's waiting for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to blame the Heathrow Airport fire in Russia.
"I’m looking forward to Russia being blamed for the Heathrow fire. What are you waiting for, Starmer?" the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia wrote on his X account.
A visualization of the impact Heathrow's closure had on international travel
Heathrow CEO says airport will be 100% operational tomorrow
Heathrow Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye said the airport will be fully operational by tomorrow morning.
"Tomorrow morning we expect to be back in full operation, so 100% operation, as a normal day," Woldbye told the U.K. press pool, adding that passengers traveling tomorrow should plan on coming to the airport at the time they usually would, with no need to come earlier.
Woldbye apologized for the "unprecedented" incident and the inconvenience it has caused travelers today. He also praised those responsible for getting operations back in order.
"What happened around midnight last night was obviously that we lost a major part of our power supply, and I'd like to stress that this is — has been an incident of major severity, it's not a small fire," he said. "We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city."
Woldbye said his team has been working tirelessly since the incident to reallocate the airport's power supply and restart the system, "which takes a long time." He said they decided to close down the airport after realizing they could not operate it safely at that time.
"And that is our concern number one, is the safety of our passengers and our colleagues," he said. "We realized that that is not possible with that major power loss that we have had."
The CEO said that incoming flights that were stranded in Europe are the priority this afternoon and that a few long-distance flights will be taking off tonight.
Heathrow closure sends global travel and airline stocks lower
The closure of London’s Heathrow Airport sent the shares of global hotel and airline stocks tumbling Friday.
Intercontinental Hotel Group fell 2.5% and British Airways owner IAG traded lower by nearly 2% on the London stock exchange. Both were among the worst performing stocks on the UK’s FTSE 100 index.
Across Europe, the travel and leisure sector fell 1.7%, faring worse than the Stoxx 600 index which ended the day down 0.6%. Shares of Air France-KLM slid 2.7% in Paris and the parent company of Lufthansa fell 1.6% in German trading.
In the U.S., Marriott shares sold off by 3%, Hilton fell 2%, and Delta Air Lines dropped 1%.
International travelers feel ripple effects of Heathrow shutdown
American Joanne Davis, who was hoping to fly to Portland, Ore., via Heathrow, waits in Fiumicino Airport near Rome today.
Passengers leave Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi after their flight scheduled for London was canceled today.
Travelers with canceled British Airways flights stand near the airline's check-in area today at Newark International Airport in New Jersey.
British Airways 'urgently contacting' passengers for flights resuming in a few hours
British Airways received clearance to depart eight of their long-haul flights from Heathrow Airport tonight following the disruption caused by a fire at a nearby power substation.
The airline said it is "urgently contacting" passengers on flights to Capetown and Johannesurg, South Africa; Singapore; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Sydney, Australia; and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and telling them to get to the airport by 7 p.m.
Terminals 2 and 4, plus 5,000 homes, still without power
Heathrow Airport's Terminals 2 and 4, and 5,000 homes near the substation fire, are still without power as of this afternoon, according to the London Fire Brigade.
"Disruption is expected to continue, and we urge people to avoid the area where possible," Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Smith said in an update.
Around 67,000 homes were left without power at one point, Smith said, but power has been restored to a majority of those homes, Smith said.
"LFB has been actively engaged in securing access for specialist power network engineers into the site as restoration of power is our priority," Smith said.
Smith said the fire was around 90% contained as of this afternoon, but still "very visible."