Saturday morning, flights began landing at Heathrow, with the aim of returning to normal operation after closing down the power loss. The Transport Department said the Ministry of Transport should temporarily lift overnight flight restrictions and passengers should come to Heathrow on Saturday as usual.
British Airways, which has a big presence in Heathrow, said it is expected to operate around 85% of its scheduled flights at the airport on Saturday. Airlines typically expect close to 600 departures and arrivals on Saturdays, but it is understood that cancellations will be made on high-frequency routes if possible.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the British Airways (BA) flight BA56, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was the first regular passenger flight to land at Heathrow from Thursday evening, landing at 4:37am on Saturday.
Downing Street said there are “questions to answer” after a fire at an electrical substation has shut down the airport, shutting down more than 1,350 flights and disrupting the journey of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Counterterrorism police were leading an investigation into an “unprecedented” incident in which engineers were unable to make the UK's biggest airport work as they tried to restore power, but said there were “no indications of a foul play.”
The two, well-versed in the investigation, said the authorities did not believe the fire was the result of criminal conduct or hostile national law, and was likely a coincidence. Police confirmed Friday evening that the fire was not considered suspect.
Heathrow partially reopened Friday evening, but the airline said the closure would have a “significant impact” on passengers in the coming days.
The minister acknowledged the “immense pain and confusion” caused by passengers and vowed to “learn lessons.”
The Prime Minister's official spokesman was asked about the investigation and whether there are any questions to answer to the National Grid.
Passengers were warned to stay away from Heathrow all day on Friday after the London Fire Force (LFB) was called to tackle a flame that began at the Hayes substation north of the airport just after 11pm on Thursday.
More than 70 firefighters worked in “challenging and dangerous” conditions to control the fire, but the LFB was burning at 8am Friday, with 25,000 liters of oil firing at the substation. Officers said that despite the irritating smell, there was generally no danger to air quality.
Power to 67,000 homes was cut off for several hours, and over 100 people were evacuated. Currently, all customers, including Heathrow, have been restored and operations at the airport are resumed.
More than 1,350 flights carrying at least 200,000 passengers are scheduled to arrive and depart at the airport on Friday, connecting to around 230 destinations, including US destinations that serve as the main gateway from Europe.
When the closure was announced overnight, around 120 long-distance flights to Heathrow were in the air, with arrivals decoupling to other airports around the UK and Europe.
Londoners will be more disturbed by nighttime aircraft noise than would normally be allowed in the coming days after lifting restrictions on night flights to facilitate backlogs.
Heathrow has experienced significant disruptions from external events, including the August 2023 air traffic control halt and massive grounding during the COVID crisis, but the last time the airport was closed completely was when 4,000 flights were cancelled in December 2010 due to heavy snow and freezing conditions.
Senior Security and Aviation figures were surprised at how the world's best connected airports could be closed for very long due to power outages.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it was “a separate case where Heathrow drops both travelers and airlines.” Willie Walsh, director of Iata, added: “What about critical infrastructure relying entirely on a single power source without any alternatives? If that's the case, it's a clear failure of the airport to plan.”
David Omando, former head of the Government's Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), spoke to one of the BBC worlds.
“So you can understand the confusion while changing into another system, etc., but for a period of a day, such a complete failure – and those who know that the confusion lasts for a long time, is the embarrassment of the nation. It should not have happened.”
However, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander defended the airport on Friday night and said the “unprecedented situation” was “a completely out of control for Heathrow.”
“They have quickly launched resilience plans and have worked closely with emergency responders and airline operators,” she said. “They have a backup energy supply, generators, diesel generators.
“Taking this opportunity, none of these failed because its backup supply was designed to protect critical key systems within the airport and not provide power to the entire airport.
“I'll still give advice to anyone who flew tomorrow.” [Saturday] Check in with the airline before traveling to the airport. However, given the scale and size of the incident, the response was quick, but I am grateful for the great pain and confusion for so many people. ”
Heathrow's CEO Thomas Woldbye apologized to “many people who influenced the trip.” But “I would like to emphasize that this is a case of great severity. It's not a small fire.”
Metropolitan Police said they are working with the LFB to establish the cause of the fire. A spokesperson said: “There are currently no indications of foul play, but I am still open-minded at this point.”
The detective prepared to steal the substation and some of its equipment and looked into signs of interference. Initial checks of CCTV covering substation boundaries do not indicate any doubt.
Counterterrorism detectives were expected to remain in the case until another explanation emerged due to the fire.
“It's a very rare and very serious incident in our network, and we cannot verify “rumors and speculation” about the cause of the fire,” said Alice Delahunty, president of National Grid's transmission business.
She added: “We are not in a position to control anything. Our focus has returned to supply safely to homes and businesses. We have time for a complete and thorough investigation, but the focus has been on power recovery.”
A Heathrow spokesman said he would initially work with the airline to deport passengers who have been converted to other European airports.
“Our priorities are keeping passengers and people working at the airport safe. As Europe's busiest airport, Heathrow uses just as much energy as a small city, so it takes time to return to full and safe operations.
British Airways, which operates about half of all Heathrow Flights, resumed long-haul services on Friday evening after electricity was restored. Flights have also started arriving at the airport.
Chief Executive Sean Doyle said BA was “forced to effectively ground flight operations,” cancelling most of all scheduled short and long flights on Friday.
“Unfortunately, it will have a huge impact on all of our customers flying with us over the next few days,” he said.
