The sudden closure of London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday due to a major power outage has caused widespread travel chaos, affecting thousands of Italian passengers.
The disruption follows a fire at a nearby electrical substation, which led to a significant loss of power at the airport. Heathrow officials have stated:
“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. 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.”
The airport, one of the busiest in the world, has cancelled approximately 1,350 flights, with at least 56 of these directly affecting travel between the UK and Italy. The shutdown impacted an estimated 11,000 Italian passengers, according to travel compensation firm ItaliaRimborso. The affected routes include flights to and from Naples, Rome Fiumicino, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and both Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports.
The disruption extends beyond direct flights, with passengers needing to connect via London for long-haul journeys to Asia and North America also facing uncertainty. Many travellers remain stranded, while airlines struggle to rebook flights amidst the ongoing crisis.
Heathrow Airport defends emergency systems
In response to growing criticism, Heathrow has defended its emergency power systems, stating:
“We have multiple sources of energy into Heathrow. But when a source is interrupted, we have back-up diesel generators and uninterruptable power supplies in place, and they all operated as expected. Our back-up systems are safety systems which allow us to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely, but they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation.
“As the busiest airport in Europe, Heathrow uses as much energy as a small city, therefore it’s not possible to have back-up for all of the energy we need to run our operation safely. We are implementing a process which will allow us to redirect power to the affected areas, but this is a safety critical process which takes time, and maintaining safety remains our priority, so we have taken the decision to close the airport for today.”
Downing Street considering crisis meeting
Downing Street has acknowledged the severity of the disruption, with discussions ongoing about whether to hold an emergency Cobra meeting should the crisis extend into a second day. Keir Starmer’s deputy official spokesperson said:
“We do expect there will be significant disruption in the hours and days ahead and we will do everything we can to support those affected.”
He also urged “caution against speculating” about the cause of the fire, pointing out that it was premature to identify the cause while it is still burning.
Asked about an inquiry and whether National Grid had questions to answer, the No 10 spokesperson suggested any investigation should wait until after the situation is under control. However, they added: “There are questions to answer on how this has happened and what can be done to prevent the scale of disruption we’ve seen from happening again, once the situation is under control.”
For Italians affected by the closure, the uncertainty remains frustrating. With Heathrow unable to provide a clear timeline for reopening, travellers are being urged to check with their airlines before attempting to rebook flights.
Meanwhile, Italian authorities and airlines are working to accommodate displaced passengers, with some flights being rerouted through alternative European hubs to minimise further disruption.
