Off The Record

The Closure Of London’s Heathrow Airport Due To A Fire Has Resulted In Flight Chaos Worldwide, With Hundreds Of Aircraft Being Compelled To Divert Or Turn Around

Published on March 21, 2025

A devastating 24-hour lockdown at Heathrow Airport caused scores of cancellations and mid-air flight diversions, causing travelers worldwide to prepare for days of mayhem.

One of the world’s busiest airports had to close on Friday because a fire at a nearby substation caused a significant power loss, affecting over 200,000 passengers per day.

As the fire burned and news of the shutdown spread, American travelers who were intending to land at Heathrow seemed to quickly make U-turns late Friday EST, according to FlightRadar.

In addition to flights that have been canceled and delayed due to the event, a total of 120 aircraft that are currently in the air are being rerouted or redirected.

With an estimated 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow expected to be affected as the day goes on, passengers from as far away as San Francisco, Japan, and Perth, Australia were caught up in the chaos.

Cirium, an aviation statistics business, estimates that the stoppage may impact up to 145,000 travelers.

After spending as much as three hours in the air, planes from Dallas, Chicago, and Minneapolis all seemed to be heading home.

Instead, passengers on other aircraft leaving the US will land at different airports around the country. A flight from San Francisco will land at Dulles International, and another from Dallas will head to Bangor, Maine rather than London.

One of the first flights affected by the detour while in the air was Flight US 146 from Newark. It is currently expected to touch down in Shannon, Ireland, just after five in the morning. At 5:55 a.m., it was supposed to touch down at Heathrow.

In the meantime, as European airports get ready for a surge of aircraft that are too far along in their itineraries to turn back, the QF9 Qantas flight from Perth to Heathrow has been rerouted via Paris.

Cities that welcome diverted flights include Helsinki, Newfoundland, Canada, and Amsterdam.

At airports all throughout the world, weary travelers are anxiously awaiting airline news.

According to a passenger waiting at a Toronto airport, his aircraft to Heathrow is still scheduled to depart in fifty minutes.

“They don’t have the heart to tell us,” he wrote on X.

Another passenger informed DailyMail.com that she had been flying above New York ever since their plane from JFK took off two hours ago.

About 40 minutes after we took off, pilots made a single statement, she said, stating that the airport was closed.

“[The pilot said] we have to circle to dump fuel before landing back at JFK, but didn’t say for how long or if we’d get another flight.”

After 13 hours in the air, passengers on a flight from Japan will arrive in Helsinki instead of London as scheduled.

A British Airways aircraft from Doha is currently landing in Frankfurt, and another that left Nairobi and is headed to Manchester are among the other long-haul planes that were rerouted.

A few fortunate travelers have been rerouted to other airports in London. Gatwick will now be the landing destination for British Airways flights from Johannesburg, Lagos, and Cape Town.

Numerous passengers, including those from Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Houston, Hamberg, Zurich, Dublin, and Barcelona, will wake up to find that their flights have been canceled.

The busy airport, which typically sees a plane land or take off every 45 seconds, announced its shutdown six hours after the fire started at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Airlines and passengers worldwide would be impacted by Heathrow’s unscheduled closure, according to FlightRadar24 spokesman Ian Petchenik.

“Heathrow is one of the major hubs of the world,” he told the Telegraph. “This is going to disrupt airlines’ operations around the world.”

A Heathrow Airport 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.”

We must close Heathrow until 23:59 on March 21, 2025, in order to ensure the safety of our travelers and coworkers.

“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.”

As firemen toiled tirelessly to put out the fire, footage of the incident showed massive clouds of smoke rising into the sky.

Videos taken inside Heathrow, meanwhile, revealed that the airport was mostly dark due to the power loss.

“This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as quickly as possible,” said Pat Goulbourne, assistant commissioner of the London Fire Brigade.

Many households and local businesses are experiencing a power outage as a result of the fire, and we are collaborating closely with our partners to minimize any inconvenience.

A 200-meter perimeter has been set up as a precaution, and over 150 people have been evacuated after firefighters helped 29 individuals from nearby buildings to safety.

“We strongly advise local residents to keep their windows and doors closed due to the significant amount of smoke.”

Crews will be on the scene all night long since this will be a protracted situation. We encourage folks to stay away from the area whenever possible because we anticipate more disruptions as the morning wears on.

The fire’s cause is still a mystery. There have been no reports of injuries thus yet.