How air travel worldwide is being disrupted after fire near U.K.’s Heathrow Airport

The shutdown of London’s Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, is causing chaos across the world today, with thousands of flights affected and major disruption expected to last for days.

At least 1,351 flights so far have been impacted by Friday’s closure, which is due to a “significant power outage” caused by a large fire nearby.

A spokesperson for Heathrow, which flies up to 291,000 passengers a day, has announced that the west London airport will be closed until at least midnight.

“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” reads an official statement from Heathrow.

“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

According to live flight-tracking website Flightradar24, at least 120 aircraft were en route to the airport, which connects London with over 230 destinations in nearly 90 countries, when the unexpected closure was announced.

Heathrow is currently the base for 90 different airlines, including the UK’s flag carrier British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Significant impact

“Customers due to travel from Heathrow on Friday are advised not to travel to the airport until further notice,” reads a statement from British Airways on Friday.

“This will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers and we’re working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond.”

Flights are currently being diverted to alternative destinations wherever possible, with airports at Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Germany’s Frankfurt, Ireland’s Shannon and Gatwick Airport, the UK’s second largest airport, already accepting several.

Seven United Airlines flights have returned to their point of origin or been diverted to other airports, according to the American carrier.

Singapore Airlines has confirmed that three flights en route to London have either been diverted to Frankfurt or Paris or returned to Singapore. Five flights to and from Heathrow have since been canceled, said the airline.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific told CNN that several flights to and from London have been canceled today.

Air France has canceled eight flights to and from Heathrow, but the flag carrier of France says routes to other UK airports are operating normally.

“If you are traveling to or from London Heathrow today, please do not proceed to your departure airport at this time,” Virgin Atlantic said, adding that it would be “offering flexible options” to allow customers to adapt their travel plans.

“You can choose to be rebooked onto the next available flight, reschedule your journey for a later date, or change your destination within our direct network. If you no longer wish to travel, you may also request a refund,” the airline’s website recently added.

Low-cost airline Ryanair has launched eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and London Stansted to help affected passengers, with four operating Friday, and another four on Saturday.

Passenger Kim Mikkel Skibrek, a 40-year-old U.S.-Norwegian citizen, was on a Delta Air Lines flight from the U.S. to London when it had to turn back to Minneapolis after just three hours.

Safety priority

“Everything is fine,” he told CNN. “People were frustrated with the flight returning after over three hours but now it seems everyone is calmer.”

Skibrek says he’s hoping to be able to board another flight to London as soon as possible.

“The situation at Heathrow Airport is incredibly difficult, an incident like this at one of the world’s busiest airports will have a very significant knock-on impact on all travel for the next few days,” Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive officer of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said in a statement.

“Of course, the priority for everyone is safety, and the airport and the airlines will be working hard today to make sure the area is safe and that they can resume operations as soon as possible.”

Lo Bue-Said went on to point out that Friday is “typically the busiest day for travel,” and the incident will undoubtedly have a knock on effect.

“Therefore, the reality is that the London airports would have been busy today already and this incident will exacerbate it further,” she added.

Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based Endau Analytics, an advisory firm focused on the aviation industry, told CNN that financial losses from the shutdown could be in the “hundreds of millions of pounds.”

The fallout “will cause chaos, undoubtedly, for the weekend and into next week because they have to resolve all those flights that couldn’t come in, all those problems that have piled up because of this shutdown,” he said.

A record-breaking 83.9 million passengers passed through Heathrow in 2024, according to recent data.

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Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN