Picture credit: Heathrow
The fire which broke out last night (20 March) at 11.30pm at the electrical substation in Hayes, west London has affected at least 1,350 flights and significantly disrupted UK supply chains.
Many flights have been diverted to European airports including Paris Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Munich and Brussels airports while passengers are forced to wait in temporary hotel accommodation until flight operations return to normal.
A Heathrow spokesperson said earlier today (21 March) that they didn't know when power would be restored but to maintain the safety of their passengers and colleagues, the airport made the decision to close Heathrow until 23h59 tonight.
National Grid said at 2pm the network has been reconfigured to restore all customers impacted, including the ability to resupply the parts of Heathrow airport connected to the substation.
A spokesman said: "We’re sorry for the disruption caused by a fire at our North Hyde substation and for the loss of power supplies in the area. Teams have been working around the clock to restore power as soon as possible.
"Working in partnership with the local network operator SSEN Distribution, the network has been reconfigured to restore all customers impacted, including the ability to resupply the parts of Heathrow airport that are connected to North Hyde.
"This is an interim solution while we carry out further work at North Hyde to return the substation and our network to normal operation.
"We are continuing to work closely with all stakeholders to manage this incident, and are focused on returning to normal resilience levels as soon as possible."
A Heathrow spokesman said: "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."
A BIFA company spokesman expressed their concern on the significant impact on both import and export movements following the closure, adding: "Supply chains work based on a consistent flow of goods and this has been severely interrupted – for exports the immediate concern will be that airline sheds will fill up rapidly and be unable to accept fresh freight deliveries, which will then affect other parties. For imports, freight will not arrive at or be diverted from its original final destination.
"For BIFA members, a big concern is that most cargo is carried in the bellyholds of passenger aircraft and when flights to and from LHR are restored there will be a considerable influx in demand by passengers for seats to continue their journeys. Potentially this will restrict the capacity to move cargo.!"
While the cause of the fire at the substation is still unknown, it reportedly involved a transformer containing 25,000 litres of cooling oil, according to a report by the BBC.
Questions now arise over the mega airport's vulnerabilities to a local power failure.
Dr. Komal Raj Aryal Lecturer in Crisis and Disaster Management at Aston University said: "This morning’s unprecedented incident at Heathrow Airport has forced us to urgently reconsider how we teach and govern risk management for operational continuity.
"The incident highlights how a localised disruption to one of the UK’s critical infrastructures can trigger cascading impacts across the globe."
