Heathrow Airport has been closed sparking chaos for travellers around the world with maps showing diversions put in place following a power outage due to a fire
Global flight radar maps show the extent of the chaos following the closing of Heathrow Airport causing cancellations and diversions.
More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow Airport will be disrupted today due to the closure of the airport following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Online tracking services showed flights being diverted to Gatwick, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Ireland’s Shannon Airport. A number of flights were also turned around and returned to airports in Canada and the United States.
Flight US 146 from Newark, in the United States, was one of the first flights affected by the chaos while already in the air. It was told to land in Shannon in Ireland shortly after 5am having been scheduled to land at Heathrow at 5.55am.
Thousands of homes have been left without power and more than 100 people were evacuated after a transformer within the North Hyde electrical substation caught fire in west London.
The airport, which is supplied by the substation, said it was among those impacted by the power outage. 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.
READ MORE: Heathrow Airport closed LIVE: Fire shuts all runways as travel warnings issued for next 24 hours
It said 120 flights to the airport were in the air when the closure was announced. Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024. A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation. Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025. We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.
“We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”
FlightRadar24 spokesman Ian Petchenik said that the unplanned closure of Heathrow will be felt by airlines and travelers all over the world. “Heathrow is one of the major hubs of the world,” he told the Telegraph. “This is going to disrupt airlines’ operations around the world.” And maps of flights show many forced to change direction and head to different locations.
Gatwick Airport confirmed it had accepted seven diverted flights from locations including Singapore, Johannesburg, Lagos, Cape Town and Doha which were originally destined for Heathrow.
“We are aware of the situation at Heathrow Airport today and we are supporting by accepting diverted flights as required,” an airport spokesperson said. “Flights are operating from London Gatwick as normal today.”
Shannon Airport in Co Clare confirmed it had accepted six diverted flights from Toronto, Atlanta, Bridgetown Barbados, Boston, Orlando and Newark. Heathrow Express train service announced it would not operate on Friday while Hayes and Harlington railway station remained closed on Friday morning, National Rail confirmed.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said on X there was a large-scale power outage in Hayes, Hounslow and the surrounding areas impacting more than 16,300 homes. According to the power company’s website, authorities aimed to restore power by 3pm on Friday.
A National Grid spokesperson said the fire had damaged equipment and they “working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible”. London Fire Brigade said 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters were still on the scene at Nestles Avenue in Hayes just before 6am with part of a transformer still alight.
Around 150 people have been evacuated from surrounding properties and a 200-metre cordon has been put in place as a precaution. Assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: “This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible.
“The fire has caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses, and we are working closely with our partners to minimise disruption.” Firefighters led 29 people from surrounding properties to safety.
Footage posted to social media showed huge flames and large plumes of smoke coming from the facility. The brigade said nearly 200 calls had been received in relation to the incident with crews from Hayes, Heathrow, Hillingdon, Southall and surrounding areas on the scene.
Emergency services were called to the scene at 11.23pm on Thursday. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Mr Goulbourne said firefighters urged people to take safety precautions as crews worked to extinguish the blaze.
“This will be a prolonged incident, with crews remaining on scene throughout the night,” he said. “As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible.” London Ambulance Service and Metropolitan Police both confirmed they were on scene supporting fire crews.
