Heathrow shutdown: Air India cancels all flights to airport, issues advisory

A major power outage caused by a fire at a nearby electrical substation has led to the London’s Heathrow Airport to remain shut throughout Friday. According to FlightRadar24 the sudden closure forced at least 120 flights in the air to be diverted to alternative locations.

Just after the incident the Heathrow Airport issued a statement saying, "Expect significant disruption over coming days, passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,"

Air India, along with other major operators, have also issued statements about cancelling flights to and from the airport.

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“Our operations to and from London Heathrow (LHR) have been disrupted following the temporary suspension of operations at the airport until 23h59 London time of 21 March, after a significant power outage,' the carrier said in a statement.

“All our remaining flights to and from London Heathrow, including AI111 of this morning, have been cancelled for 21 March. We will update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information. Flights to London Gatwick remain unaffected,” Air India further said.

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A total of six flights are operated by Air India to London's Heathrow Airport, three from Mumbai, two from Delhi, and one from Bengaluru.

Heathrow closure could cost millions

Travel disruption at London's Heathrow airport, one of world's busiest hubs, could cost millions of pounds, according to experts.

The reopening of the airport will not lead to instant normalisation of flight operations. Aviation consultant Philip Butterworth, speaking to news agency AFP through video call, said, "Certainly, 50 million UK [pounds] is what we're looking at as a bare minimum," adding, "Something on this scale is almost unprecedented".

While independent airline analyst John Strickland said, "It's a massive impact in lost revenues and disruption costs, primarily for the airlines (because of) all the follow-on costs involved in putting people in hotels, refunds, re-bookings, etc."

Airport closures in past

This is not the first time that a major airport has faced a shutdown. In October last year, several international airports in Florida ceased operations because of Hurricane Milton. It is to be noted that most of the closures occur mainly owing to weather events, such as storms, hurricanes, or accidents.