AN OVERNIGHT fire has caused major disruption for travellers today in London as Heathrow Airport shut down.
Many disrupted passengers could find themselves diverted onto flights from any of London’s other airports, including Gatwick, Stansted, and Luton.
But, it could be the case that this sudden increase in passengers at the smaller airports causes some disruption.
Heathrow was plunged into chaos after a blaze broke out at a substation in Hayes, West London, and is set to remain closed until 11.59pm on Friday.
Gatwick saw the largest number of diversions from flights originally intended to land at Heathrow.
Six early morning British Airways and Virgin Atlantic flights were diverted to the secondary airport, landing between 4.25am and 5.06am.
Many passengers keen to get to their destinations may have been sent to Gatwick from Heathrow, following the cancellation of all flights today at the latter.
Pictures have shown the two terminals at Gatwick looking busier than usual this morning.
This could be down to a mixture of both passengers diverted by their airlines as well as those frantically booking a new flight to ensure they reach their destination today.
While there do not appear to be any abnormal delays at Gatwick, the average departure delay this morning at the airport has slowly crept up to 20 minutes as of 9.30am, according to FlightRadar24.
It is unclear, however, if this has been caused by knock-on effects of disruption at Heathrow.
A spokesperson for the airport said: “We are aware of the situation at Heathrow Airport today and we are supporting by accepting diverted flights as required.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Heathrow Airport shuts for ENTIRE DAY after ‘significant power outage’ as fire rips through nearby electrical station” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6370303422112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“Flights are operating from London Gatwick as normal today.”
Both Luton and Stansted have not taken on any diversions this morning.
Stansted appears to be operating normally this morning, with no extraordinary cancellations or delays.
A spokesperson for Stansted said: “London Stansted is currently operating as normal, we have capacity for a small number of diverts but as yet we haven’t received any requests.”
[boxout headline=”Impact of disruption on other London airports”]Gatwick:
Gatwick Airport took in six diverted flights from Heathrow early this morning.
While there are some delays to departures currently, these are not understood to be caused by Heathrow’s issues.
A spokesperson for the airport said flights were operating “as normal” today.
Stansted:
Stansted Airport said it was open to accepting diverted flights although none found their way there this morning.
Flights appear to be unaffected by the Heathrow disruption, and a spokesperson for the airport said it was “currently operating as normal”.
Luton:
Luton Airport received no diversion requested today and appears to be operating without delays this morning.
A spokesperson for the airport confirmed the disruption at Heathrow had “no impact” to its operations.
The case appears to be the same at Luton too, with the vast majority of flights seemingly operating normally.
A spokesperson for Luton said: “There is no impact to our operation.
“We are operating as usual, with no diversion requests received.”
Heathrow’s closure is likely to cause massive disruption in the coming days as more than 291,000 impacted passengers struggle to get to their destination.
‘A CHAOTIC COUPLE OF DAYS’
The last time Heathrow was closed for such a significant period was after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland which saw Heathrow and airports across the continent impacted for five days by the volcanic ash cloud.
Travel industry Henry Harteveldt, of Atmosphere Research Group, told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s going to be a chaotic couple of days.”
Online flight tracking service FlightRadar24 said the closure would affect more than 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow.
This includes 679 scheduled to land and 678 due to take off from the airport.
The substation fire has been described as “absolutely apocalyptic” by a driver who witnessed it last night.
“Billowing black smoke” covered Heathrow and lights went out along the roads in the Hounslow and Southall area, Adeel Anwar told Sky News.
“The sky was darkening and it was just a scene that was chaotic. It looked like something out of a movie.”
Heathrow Airport had previously said: “Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information.
“We apologise for the inconvenience.”
The fire has since come “under control” as an investigation into its cause begins.
A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said: “The fire in Hayes is now under control, but we will remain on scene throughout the day.
“Our fire investigators will begin their investigation & we will continue working closely with our partners to minimise disruption and support the community”.
Around 100,000 homes in the area were left without power overnight, with that number dropping to around 4,000 this morning.
