Some Heathrow flights set to resume after electrical substation fire caused travel chaos

Some flights are set to resume from Heathrow on Friday evening following an outage caused by a nearby blaze.

More than 1,300 flights to and from the airport were disrupted due to the closure of the airport following the blaze at a nearby electrical substation.

The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command is leading the investigation into the cause of the fire at an electrical substation in west London that led to the closure of Heathrow Airport, the force said.

The force said there was “no indication of foul play” but “we retain an open mind at this time”.

Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports were all affected by the issue, with more than 20 flights cancelled.

Thousands of members of the Tartan Army, who had travelled to Greece to watch the Scotland game on Thursday, were left stranded or out of pocket to pay for replacement flights.

A Heathrow spokesperson said on Friday afternoon: “We’re pleased to say we’re now safely able to begin some flights later today.

“Our first flights will be repatriation flights and relocating aircraft.

“Please do not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to do so.

“We will now work with the airlines on repatriating the passengers who were diverted to other airports in Europe.

“We hope to run a full operation tomorrow and will provide further information shortly.”

The spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience caused by the incident, adding: “As the busiest airport in Europe, Heathrow uses as much energy as a small city, therefore getting back to a full and safe operation takes time.”

British Airways said they have been given clearance for eight long-haul flights to depart from 7pm on Friday and that they are “urgently” informing customers booked on those flights so they can travel to the airport from 5pm.

In a statement, the airline said the “only” customers who should head to Heathrow are those booked on the following flights: BA055 to Johannesburg; BA057 to Johannesburg; BA011 to Singapore; BA259 to Riyadh; BA045 to Cape Town; BA059 to Cape Town; BA015 to Sydney via Singapore; and BA249 to Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro.

National Grid said it had found an “interim solution” to allow power to be restored to the airport.

Restrictions on overnight flights have also been temporarily lifted to help ease congestion following the closure of Heathrow Airport, the Department of Transport said in a post on X.

According to Heathrow’s website, there is no formal ban on night flights but since the 1960s, the Government has placed restrictions on them. There is an annual limit of 5,800 night-time take-offs and landings between the hours of 11.30pm and 6am as well as a nightly limit, which caps the amount of noise the airport can make at night.