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A major fire at an electricity substation has cause a power outage at Heathrow Airport, leading to the temporary closure of the London hub.
The fire is at a substation in Hayes, about 2.4km from the airport and thousands of homes are believed to be without power as is infrastructure at the airport.
It is expected to remain closed until midnight, affecting numerous flights and travellers, including those on Qantas.
“Our Singapore-London and Perth-London services were diverted to Paris today, with buses arranged to take customers on to London,” a spokesperson said.
“Our teams are working hard to support impacted customers and we thank them for their patience.”
Qanats said customers will be contacted directly if their flight is impacted.
More than 70 firefighters in 10 engines responded to the blaze, which caused flames to rise high into the sky, prompting safety warnings for nearby residents.
A spokesperson said it was “experiencing a significant power outage across the airport” and warned passengers to stay away until further notice.
“Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored,” the airport said in a statement.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” the statement added.
It’s currently unclear how many incoming flights might have to be diverted.
A still from a X post of the fire.
The airport’s website is also currently down while travellers continue to search for information.
It said a transformer within the substation was alight – but the cause is so far unknown.
Around 150 people have been evacuated with a 200-metre cordon in place around the substation zone.
LFB said it had received more than 190 calls over the incident – with the first received at 11.23pm UK time.
Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said it would be “a prolonged incident”.
“As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible,” he said.
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