London’s Heathrow Airport closed all over Friday, closing one of the world’s busiest airports and causing global travel disorders after loss of power due to fire nearby.
The closure disturbs an important travel hub for Britain, Europe and the world. Daily, on average more than 220,000 passengers traveled to airport last year on flights offered by 90 airlines to more than 180 destinations worldwide.
On Friday morning, the planes were scheduled to reach Vietnam, India and Brunei and passengers expect to take off for destinations such as Tokyo, New York and Riyadh.
Heathrow informed the passengers not to travel to the airport because they would close by 11:59 pm local time.
Here’s what we know about closing Heathrow.
The problem started with a nearby fire.
Heathrow said early on Friday that it had been hit by a power outage caused by a fire in an electric substation supplied by the airport.
The London Fire Brigade said he had called on the fire in West London late Thursday, developing dozens of firefighters. About 150 people were evacuated from the area.
The cause of the fire was not known, the Fire Brigade said.
Nearby houses and businesses were also affected, the Fire Brigade said. About 16,000 clients were without power early Friday, according to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, a British energy company.
The results of the ripples will be global.
The closure of Heathrow will affect at least 1,351 flights inside and outside the airport, according to Flightradar24, a flight tracking website. As the closure was announced early Friday, 120 aircraft scheduled to arrive at Heathrow was in the air.
Some are diverted to alternative airports, such as London Airport Gatwick, Amsterdam Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Flightradar24 said. Others began to return to their origin.
The disorder caused by the fire was expected to spread on Friday morning, said Pat Goulbourne, Assistant Commissioner at the Fire Brigade.
“We expect a major disorder in the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” a spokesman for Heathrow said in a statement.
Britain’s laws protect many travelers who are experiencing disorders.
Airlines are obliged to take care of you if you depart from Britain to any airline or get there to an EU airline or the United Kingdom. If your flight is canceled, it should offer you a choice of refund or alternative travel arrangements as soon as possible, according to the British Civil Aviation Authority.
If you choose to travel at another time, they should provide you with a reasonable amount of food or drink, stay, if you redefine the next day and move to and from stay.
If your flight is canceled or diverted, check your airline for its policies.
