On 21 March 2025, Heathrow Airport was forced to shut down completely, cancelling all flights in and out.
The closure lasted over 18 hours, affecting the travel of 200,000 passengers and millions in pounds worth of trade. The closure was blamed on a sudden fire that erupted at a nearby power station, cutting the airport’s primary energy source.
While the fire seemed to come out of nowhere, Scotland Yard had concluded that the fire was not “suspicious” after a brief investigation. There is currently an ongoing investigation, ordered by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
Recently, John Pettigrew, the chief executive of National Grid, emphasised that there were two other substations present at Heathrow airport. According to Pettigrew, “each substation individually can provide enough power to Heathrow,” meaning that he believed there was no need for the airport to shut down.
On the other hand, Heathrow’s chief executive responded by saying that a backup transformer failed, which prompted the decision to shut down.
One Heathrow traveler in New York City said she was just told to get another hotel because of a flight cancellation due to a fire. According to others, many could not book a flight until the night after the fire.
Joe, a student from London, said his flight out of Stanstead Airport was “backlogged because of overflow from the Heathrow fire,” showing the impact of the Heathrow fire in other London airports.
“Empty Airport Wing” by The Listener is licensed under CC BY 2.0.