London Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) has resumed limited flight operations this evening after it was closed due to a power outage caused by a fire at a substation.
The airport says it will focus operations this evening on repatriation flights and flights scheduled to fly into Heathrow this evening as it aims to slowly return to normal.
The airport does expect to run a normal operation from tomorrow however many airlines still have aircraft and crew in the wrong place which will continue to cause disruption for the rest of the weekend.
If you are due to travel you should check with your airline before you travel.
The closure was caused by a fire at nearby Hayes Substation which knocked out the power for Heathrow and the surrounding area.
Counter-terrorism officers have been assisting with finding the cause of the fire and sabotage has not been ruled out, although they have said there are no initial signs of sabotage. This is being hampered the fact that around 5% of the transformer is still on fire.
The transformer contains around 25,000 litres of cooling oil which is what is burning and that, combined with the high voltages, has made the fire extremely difficult to fully extinguish.
Questions have also been raised as to why there was no backup power supply to the airport which is considered key national infrastructure forcing Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye to defend the actions taken today. He said: “This is unprecedented, it’s never happened before,” adding “We are sorry for the incident – it was caused by outside factors.”
He described the outage as “as big as it gets.”.
What are my rights?
It is unlikely that you will be able to claim any compensation for a delayed or cancelled flight under EU261 rules as the reasons are outside of the control of the airline however you are entitled to an alternative flight at no cost (even if that is more expensive than your original ticket) plus reasonable expenses or a refund. This can be with any airline and you can search for flights yourself without relying on the airline but if you book it yourself, the airline isn’t liable. Simply tell the airline about the alternative flight.
Reasonable expenses are things like extra hotel accommodation, food and non-alcoholic drinks. You must keep receipts for all of these to submit a claim to the airline.
If you are choosing a refund and want to claim expenses you mustn’t accept a refund before your expenses claim is settled.
