Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 21, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleHeathrow Airport closure due to a power outage has disrupted flights, affecting major airlines like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, with 120 flights diverted.
(Reuters) - Britain's Heathrow Airport said on Friday it would remain closed through the day after a huge fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power, disrupting flight schedules of global airlines.
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, at least 120 inbound flights to Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, were being diverted to other airports.
Here are the top 10 airlines by capacity that were set to arrive at Heathrow Airport on Friday.
AIRLINE NAME FLIGHTS SEATS
British Airways 341 67,962
Virgin Atlantic 31 9,058
Lufthansa 21 3,780
American Airlines 20 5,744
Aer Lingus 19 3,484
United Airlines 17 3,673
SAS 14 2,520
Swiss 12 2,000
Eurowings 13 1,906
Delta Air Lines 11 2,687
Other 67 airlines 143 9,790
Total 669 145,836
Here is what airlines are saying about the closure:
* British Airways: "Due to a power outage in the LondonHeathrow area, London Heathrow Airport is currently closed. As aresult, customers due to travel from Heathrow on Friday areadvised not to travel to the airport until further notice. Thiswill clearly have a significant impact on our operation and ourcustomers and we're working as quickly as possible to updatethem on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond." * United Airlines: "Seven United flights returned to theirorigin or to other airports, and Friday flights to LondonHeathrow are being cancelled. We are working with our customersto offer alternative travel options." * Air India: "London Heathrow-bound AI129 from Mumbai isreturning to Mumbai; AI161 from Delhi is diverting to Frankfurt.All our remaining flights to and from London Heathrow, includingAI111 of this morning, have been cancelled for 21 March." * Aer Lingus: "Cancelling all flights to and from LondonHeathrow Airport until further notice today following theclosure of the airport by the authorities." * Virgin Atlantic: "This has had a significant impact on ourflying programme both into and out of Heathrow and all VirginAtlantic arriving and departing flights are cancelled untilmidday on March 21, with the rest of today's schedule currentlyunder review." * Qantas: "Our Singapore-London and Perth-London serviceswere diverted to Paris today, with buses arranged to takecustomers on to London." * Scandinavian Airlines System: "All our 12 round trips areso far cancelled to and from Heathrow. We will keep affectedpassengers informed. * Ryanair: The airline in a post on X said it had added upto 8 rescue flights between Dublin and London Stansted, torescue passengers affected by Heathrow's closure. * Singapore Airlines: A spokesperson for the airline saidfour flights from Singapore to London were affected, and fourflights from London to Singapore have been cancelled. * JetBlue: All JetBlue flights to and from Heathrow willbe cancelled and additional flights may be scheduled once theairport reopens to accommodate affected passengers.Source: Data from Cirium Ascend, company statements.
Note: The seats represent capacity, not ticketed passengers.
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job, Abhijith Ganapavaram, Jamie Freed, Surbhi Misra, Angela Christy, Devika Nair and Chandini Monnappa; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
The main topic is the closure of Heathrow Airport due to a power outage and its impact on airline operations.
Major airlines like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and United Airlines are affected by the closure.
At least 120 flights were diverted from Heathrow to other airports.
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