Heathrow Airport shut after fire at power substation in London
A fire at a power substation has caused the abrupt closure of London’s Heathrow Airport, one of Europe’s busiest airports.
The substation in the Hayes neighborhood in the west of the UK capital supplies electricity to the airport, which is expected to remain closed until at least midnight on Friday.
"To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 11:59 p.m. on 21 March," Heathrow Airport said in a post on its social media.
At least 120 flights that were in the air are being diverted to alternative airports, FlightRadar24 reported, which predicted the closure would affect at least 1,000 flights worldwide.
Some aircraft even returned to their departure airports amid the chaos in the air.
London has four other airports in its surroundings, Gatwick to the south, Luton and Stansted to the north and London City Airport, but these have operational restrictions.
Many flights ended up being diverted to Manchester and also European cities such as Paris and Amsterdam.
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