Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has ordered the National Engery System to "urgently investigate" the power outage caused by a substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport on Friday.
Mr Miliband has commissioned an investigation into the incident at Heathrow, to be carried out by the National Energy System Operator, along with Ofgem. He said the investigation will look for "wider lessons" on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure.
In a post on X, He wrote: "The loss of power to the Heathrow area has caused major disruption to thousands of people and many businesses. We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned."
It comes as the UK’s busiest transport hub was forced to close on Friday following a devastating fire at a substation. The blaze at the facility in Hayes, west London, led to an “unprecedented” loss of power, impacting travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers and causing chaos worldwide.
More than 1,300 flights were unable to leave or arrive at Heathrow, which handled nearly 84million passengers last year. Some planes eventually started departing on Friday evening and, this morning, the airport - a hub for Virgin Atlantic and British Airways - confirmed operations have now resumed.
Have you been impacted by the closure? Contact webnews@mirror.co.uk.
Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye has apologised, explaining how a backup transformer failed meaning systems had to be closed down in accordance with safety procedures. Today he added "we were handling the consequences of that failure," and that he was "proud" of the way that the airport handled the situation, in an interview with the BBC.
Today, the airport tweeted: "Flights have resumed at Heathrow following yesterday's power outage. If you're due to travel today, we advise you to still contact your airline for your latest flight information before heading to the airport. We apologise for the disruption and appreciate your patience whilst operations return to normal."
Follow the latest updates on the chaos at Heathrow Airport here:
Liam Buckler
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Liam Buckler
Virgin Atlantic has 'fully stabilised' after 'significant impact' to its schedule
Virgin Atlantic has "fully stablised" its operations after a "significant impact" to its schedule over the past two days.
During a second update of the day, the airline said: "We are still working to ensure all those impacted can complete their journeys as quickly as possible and we expect to run our full flying schedule on Sunday 23 March. We're incredibly sorry for any disruption to our customers' journeys."
Liam Buckler
90% of British Airways flights went ahead today
British Airways said 90% of its scheduled flights went ahead today.
Writing on X, the airline said: "The vast majority of our customers were able to get to where they needed to be despite the very challenging circumstances going into the start of the day.
"As things stand, we're anticipating being able to run a near-full schedule on Sunday and would therefore ask customers to come to the airport as normal unless we get in touch to tell them otherwise."
The airline said it was "really grateful to our customers for bearing with us over the past couple of days, even though many of them have had their travel plans unacceptably cancelled or disrupted" and thanked its employees for working "so hard to support customers and help get our operation back on track".
Liam Buckler
Heathrow shutting 'begs some serious questions'
Willie Walsh, who heads aviation trade organization IATA, said the episode “begs some serious questions.”
“How is it that critical infrastructure – of national and global importance – is totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative? If that is the case, as it seems, then it is a clear planning failure by the airport,” he said.
Walsh said “Heathrow has very little incentive to improve” because airlines, not the airport, have to pay the cost of looking after disrupted passengers.
KEY EVENT
Heathrow Airport launching internal review after fire
Heathrow Airport has said it will launch an internal review after it was forced to close yesterday following a fire at a nearby electrical substation.
Heathrow chairman Lord Paul Deighton said in a statement: "Closing the airport yesterday had significant impacts for our passengers, our customers, our colleagues and the country.
"Heathrow regrets the disruption this caused. We hope that all those affected understand that the decision was made in order to prioritise the safety of our passengers and colleagues."
Ruth Kelly, former transport secretary and an independent member of Heathrow's board, will undertake a review.
He added: "The Kelly Review will analyse all of the relevant material concerning the robustness and execution of Heathrow’s crisis management plans, the airport’s response during the incident and how the airport recovered the operation with the objective of identifying any improvements that could be made to our future resilience."
Liam Buckler
UK government orders probe into Heathrow shutdown that sparked concern over energy resilience
The UK government has ordered the National Energy System Operator, which oversees UK gas and electricity networks, to “urgently investigate” the fire, “to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure." It is expected to report initial findings within six weeks.
While Heathrow Airport said it was “fully operational” on Saturday, thousands of passengers remained stuck, and airlines warned that severe disruption will last for days as they scramble to relocate planes and crews and get travelers to their destinations.
Inconvenienced passengers, angry airlines and concerned politicians all want answers about how one seemingly accidental fire could shut down Europe’s busiest air hub.
Liam Buckler
Passengers looking fed-up as they wait for their flights
Passengers waiting for their flights in Terminal Five looked bored with many having their flights disrupted yesterday.
With only a small amount of cancellations on Saturday, many deperature boards were showing flights on time. However, for some passengers, there were still delays, leaving some passengers looking fed-up.
Liam Buckler
'We will not hesitate to take action' - Ofgem
Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, confirmed that the authority "will not hesitate to take action" following the Heathrow substation fire which caused huge disruption yesterday.
Mr Kaul said Ofgem will work to ensure the National Energy System Operator's review "goes as far as possible to ensuring steps are put in place to avoid any repeat of an incident of this scale in the future".
He also added households and businesses "should be able to have confidence in the resilience of critical national infrastructure".
Liam Buckler
Heathrow CEO 'welcomes' investigation into substation fire
Heathrow's CEO Thomas Woldbye said the airport welcomes the news that the government has commissioned an independent investigation into the substation fire that left millions of passengers stranded.
He said: "We will support every effort to understand the causes and impacts of yesterday's off-airport incident and we are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure a thorough investigation to help strengthen the airport's future resilience."
Liam Buckler
'Imperative' to find out what happened - transport secretary
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has admitted it is "imperative" to "identify how this power failure happened and learn from this to ensure a vital piece of national infrastructure remains strong".
She warns "some disruption is expected" over the coming days for passengers at Heathrow Airport and urges people to check the status of their flight before travelling.
KEY EVENT
Investigation launched into Heathrow closure, Ed Miliband confirms
An investigation has been commissioned into the incident at Heathrow, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has confirmed.
It will be carried out by the National Energy System Operator, along with Ofgem.
In a post on X, Mr Miliband wrote: "We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.
“That is why working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the National Energy System Operator to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future.
“The government is determined to do everything it can to prevent a repeat of what happened at Heathrow. This review will be an important step in helping us to do so, as we deliver our Plan for Change.”
Liam Buckler
Virgin Atlantic to run a 'near full schedule with limited cancellations'
Virgin Atlantic confirmed it planned to run a “near full schedule with limited cancellations” at Heathrow Airport today.
In a statement posted on X, Virgin Atlantic wrote: "Heathrow airport has fully reopened and we plan to run a near full schedule with limited cancellations today.
"The impact on today’s flying programme is the result of yesterday’s airport closure following a fire at an electrical substation nearby, which has included the repositioning of aircraft and crews.
"We’re incredibly sorry for any disruption to our customer’s journeys and we are working to ensure customers affected can complete their journeys as quickly as possible.”
Tim Hanlon
UK needs to plan so 'this scale of disruption doesn't happen again' says Labour campaigner
The disruption at Heathrow Airport caused by a fire at "one electricity substation" is a "huge embarrassment", says a Labour campaigner.
“This is a huge embarrassment for Heathrow airport. It’s a huge embarrassment for the country that a fire in one electricity substation can have such a devastating effect,” said Toby Harris, a Labour Party politician who heads the National Preparedness Commission, a group that campaigns to improve resilience.
Heathrow said it had hundreds of additional workers at the airport today as flights resumed as they plan to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers. It advised passengers to check with their airline before going to the airport.
More than 1,300 flights were canceled and some 200,000 people stranded Friday after an overnight fire at a substation 2 miles away from the airport cut power to Heathrow, and to more than 60,000 properties.
Still, the huge impact of the fire left authorities facing questions about Britain’s creaking infrastructure. The government acknowledged that authorities had questions to answer and said a rigorous investigation was needed to make sure “this scale of disruption does not happen again.”
Mr Harris, from the preparedness commission, said the airport shutdown points to a broader problem with Britain’s economy and infrastructure. “The last 40, 50 years we’ve tried to make services more efficient,” he said. “We’ve stripped out redundancy, we’ve simplified processes. We’ve moved towards a sort of ‘just in time’ economy. There is an element where you have to make sure you’re available for ‘just in case.’ You have to plan for things going wrong.”
Meanwhile, Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye said he was “proud” of the way airport and airline staff had responded. “Remember, the situation was not created at Heathrow Airport,” he told the BBC. “The airport didn’t shut for days. We shut for hours.”
Tim Hanlon
Dad says his party of five has lost £9,000 due to Heathrow Airport chaos
A dad due to visit his daughter in Canada says his party of five has lost £9,000 from the disruption at Heathrow.
Stephen Tomkins has told how he was given "no other information" other than his flight had been cancelled. And after spending four hours on hold with Air Canada, the group decided to book replacement flights to Kelowna in British Columbia.
"I understand it's an incident but these things should have been planned for to make sure people aren't left out of pocket," said Stephen, reported Sky News. And Air Canada has now emailed with details of another flight two days later from Heathrow which is already listed as delayed.
Tim Hanlon
Heathrow closure is 'embarrassment for whole nation' says hospitality operator
A fire at an electricity substation forcing the closure of Heathrow Airport is an "embarrassment" for the country, says the boss of a hospitality operator.
Surinder Arora, Founder and Chairman of the Arora Group said: “This matter has been an embarrassment for the whole nation and we welcome the Chair of the Transport Select Committee suggesting this will be a matter for her committee to launch an inquiry into.
“Given the number of serious questions that need to be answered, a full investigation must be held at the earliest opportunity and at the heart of that must be how Heathrow can be so reliant on any single site or source for power.
“The Arora Group has questioned the capabilities of Heathrow’s management for many years and this is the latest exposure of showing how charging airlines and passengers the highest airport fees in the world does not tally with the best airport operations in the world.”
Tim Hanlon
Fire forcing Heathrow closure 'shows critical infrastructure nowhere near strong enough'
The fire raises concerns about the UK’s ability to withstand attacks or natural disasters that damage critical infrastructure such as communications and power networks, analysts said.
The fire at a nearby electrical substation forced the closure of Heathrow Airport on Froday. It is very worrying given recent comments by Britain’s security services that Russia is conducting a reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe, said Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based security think tank.
“The UK’s critical national infrastructure is not sufficiently hardened for anywhere near the level it would need to be at to give us confidence this won’t happen again,” he said. “I mean, if one fire can shut down Heathrow’s primary systems ... it tells you something’s badly wrong with our system of management of such disasters.”
Tim Hanlon
Travel congestion at Heathrow 'expected to last two to four days'
Travel chaos at Heathrow is expected to last for up to four days before all the congestion is cleared, says an expert.
Following the closure of the airport on Friday, it will take time for stranded aircraft and flight crews to be brought back into position as well as for passengers's trips to be rearranged.
Anita Mendiratta, an aviation and leadership consultant, said about 4,000 tonnes of cargo was also stranded by the closure.
“This is an extreme situation where the entire aviation ecosystem is impacted,” she said. “There will be two things that will be happening as a priority No. 1. First is airport operations and understanding, from an electrical system point of view, what has been impacted, if anything.
“Did anything short out, for instance? What needs to be reactivated? And then how do you literally turn the airport back on again?”
Antony Clements-Thrower
School trip to Europe from US caught up in travel nightmares
A woman in charge of a school trip from the US to the UK and Paris has spoken of their nightmare trying to get home to Iowa.
Christine Eckles, 50, said: "It was a delay at first, a three-hour delay, and then we found out our flight to Chicago was cancelled. It's been stressful.
"We're at the end of our trip and we have had a wonderful time in London and Paris, and everybody's ready to go home and back to their spring break."
Antony Clements-Thrower
' I just want to go home'
A passenger on her way home to the US after learning her father had passed away was among those caught up in the severe disruption.
Laura Fritschie from Kansas City was on holiday with her family in Ireland when she got the awful news, and was stranded at Heathrow when her flight to Chicago was cancelled.
She said: “This was my first big vacation with my kids since my husband died, and ... now this. So I just want to go home.”
Tim Hanlon
Air India says flights have started again amid Heathrow travel chaos
Air India passengers have been told that flights have now started again at Heathrow.
A statement from the carrier read: "Our operations to and from London Heathrow (LHR) have recommenced after the disruption at the airport yesterday due to a power outage.
"Today’s flight AI111 was on schedule and other flights, to and from London, are expected to operate as per schedule. AI161 of 21 March, which was diverted to Frankfurt, is expected to leave Frankfurt at 14:05 pm local time."
Thousands of travellers have been affected by the chaos at Heathrow with the airport closed on Friday. Virgin Atlantic passengers have been told that the carrier is aiming to have "limited cancellations" and British Airways is expecting 85% of its flights to go today.
Tim Hanlon
Heathrow closure has been blasted as ‘laughing stock’ and a ‘colossal failure’
The closure of Heathrow Airport following a fire at a nearby electrical substation has led to criticism over back-up measures.
Owner of logistics and supply chain company PS Forwarding, Jason Bona, told the BBC that the incident made Heathrow a "laughing stock" in the global freight community.
And Sir Gavin Williamson, the Tory former defence secretary, said: "This is a colossal failure of Heathrow airport. They have failed to build in the resilience that is required to ensure this level of disruption does not happen."
While the director general of the International Air Transport Association, Willie Walsh, called it "yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines".
There was also criticism from Phil Hewitt, director of energy analysis firm Montel Group. He told the Mail:"This potential lack of resilience at a critical national and international infrastructure site is worrying. An airport as large and as important as Heathrow should not be vulnerable to a single point of failure."
Tim Hanlon
Passenger says how buying flights in one booking helped amid Heathrow chaos
A passenger at Heathrow said purchasing their flights in one booking had helped them avoid the worst of the disruption when a nearby fire closed the airport on Friday.
Rob Walford, 74, said: “We were in Nice with friends and we were due to fly into Heathrow yesterday. We were going to stay the night and then catch our flight to San Diego, so obviously, we didn’t do that.
“The wisest thing we did, though, while in Nice was take the tram to the airport and then rebook us first thing this morning. If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be here. The British Airways desk sorted it out: we’ve got a flight this morning that wasn’t going to be cancelled, so now we’re good.”
Speaking at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, Mr Walford, who lives in California, added: “Here’s the thing, if you book a flight, make it all one (journey) because I booked the flights separately when we came. We were going to do the same thing last night, but didn’t do it again and here we are, and in about 15 hours, we’ll be home.”
Simon Murphy
US tourist visiting Edinburgh for 30th birthday 'incredulous' as Chicago flight is axed
Sitting with baggage at Heathrow after her flight was cancelled, holidaymaker Kayla Soto laughed when asked how she felt.
The mum-of-two had enjoyed a week-long trip to Edinburgh with a pal to celebrate both their 30th birthdays. But her plane to Chicago was among flights cancelled after the chaos caused by the blaze near the airport yesterday.
The project analyst, from Kansas City in the US, arrived this morning at Heathrow after flying from Scotland. But, before getting there, she discovered her flight to Chicago had been axed.
Kayla spoke to the Mirror from Heathrow’s terminal 5 on Saturday morning. Asked how she felt about the situation, Kayla laughed adding: “Incredulous would be a great word.
“Yeah, just shocked. Not much I can do on this end. My husband’s gonna be the one who's really not happy. He’s home with our kids.”
Kayla, whose kids are aged two and 11, now plans to fly on Monday – saying it was “not ideal”. She is now due to fly 9am on Monday from Heathrow to New York, and then on to Detroit before another leg to Kansas city.
Tim Hanlon
Heathrow Airport closure could have cost the UK ‘4.8m in lost tourism’
Thousands of tourists had flights cancelled and delayed by the closure of Heathrow Airport on Friday which will have cost the UK economy dearly.
Heathrow is Europe’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.
This is believed to be the worst disruption at Heathrow since December 2010, when thousands of Christmas getaway passengers camped in the terminals because of widespread cancellations caused by snow.
In April of that year, air travel was grounded across Europe because of an ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcanic eruption.
While it is not easy to put an exact figure on the amount of tourism money lost, an economist with Oxford Economics believes it is nearly £5million.
“In terms of what's at stake, at the conservative end, we estimate a potential loss of tourism revenue amounting to £4.8 million per day,” economist Stephen Rooney told the Independent.
“We can estimate this loss based on typical inbound arrivals volumes that come to the UK through Heathrow and the average daily spend of those travelling.”
Tim Hanlon
Passenger tells of paying double for new flight and will still miss pal's wedding
A London woman has said she is frustrated to miss part of her close friend’s wedding after the fire which closed Heathrow airport’s transport hub on Friday.
Farah Rafeeq, 24, was due to travel with Singapore Airlines on Friday from Heathrow with her 32-year-old friend Niken Wulan, who is pregnant, to another friend’s wedding in Cambodia on Sunday.
The mass cancellation of flights means they will now miss part of the ceremony. They have found an alternative flight from Gatwick Airport with Turkish Airlines and Bangkok Airways that will get them to Cambodia for Sunday afternoon.
Ms Rafeeq, who works in climate project management, told the PA news agency from Gatwick Airport on Saturday: “The last few hours have been nightmarish because it is one of our closest friends’ wedding and we have to travel for at least 20 hours to get there.
“We had to pay double the amount, between £600 and £700, for the new flight, and we had planned this trip for months and had hotels booked and are flying to South-east Asia after the wedding. We are missing the morning ceremony but at least we can make it for the reception.”
Simon Murphy
Family's first trip away with baby dashed after flight cancellation
A couple's first trip away since their son’s birth was dashed by a flight cancellation after the blaze near Heathrow.
Lucy Nicoll and husband Frankie, from Swindon, were due to fly to Dublin for a weekend together without four-month-old baby Arthur. But Lucy explained she found out at midnight that their flight was cancelled.
Though most flights were running, the Mirror counted 13 showing cancelled at Heathrow’s terminal 5 on Saturday following Friday’s chaos caused by the nearby substation fire.
Speaking from the terminal, 28-year-old Lucy said: “Frankie woke and saw the phone had flashed up. We quickly just tried to change our flight at four o’clock in the morning so we haven’t really slept.”
The bank worker explained they turned up at the airport “just to try our luck” – however, they were now planning to go in April.
Asked how she felt about the situation, she said: “It’s a bit gutting because obviously this is our first trip away and we’ve actually built ourselves up to leave Arthur.
“And I just felt they [the airline] could have done a bit more. Like it was a quick call to the customer service helpline and, no, sorry you can’t be on the flight.” Ground worker Frankie, 31, who was looking forward to a pint of “proper Guinness”, said he was gutted too.
Tim Hanlon
‘Engineer error’ may have caused fire leading to the closure of Heathrow
An investigation has been launched into the fire at an electrical substation nearby which led to the closure of Heathrow Airport.
There has been plenty of speculation into the cause of the blaze which began on Thursday night at the substation in Hayes. And a source close to the investigation told Politico that the likely cause of the fire was a mistake and not something more sinister. “It’s always cockup rather than conspiracy,” they said.
The Metropolitan Police are not treating the incident as suspicious and the London Fire Brigade’s investigation is focusing on the electrical distribution equipment.
Counter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police have been leading the investigation into the cause of the fire, which did not result in any casualties at the scene.
“After initial assessment, we are not treating this incident as suspicious, although inquiries do remain ongoing,” Commander Simon Messinger said.
Tim Hanlon
Virgin Atlantic expects to run 'a near full schedule' from Heathrow today
Virgin Atlantic passengers have been told that the carrier is aiming to have "limited cancellations" following the closing of Heathrow Airport yesterday.
Around 200,000 passengers have been affected by the closure of what is Europe’s busiest airport after a fire at an electrical substation nearby on Thursday night.
A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said that aircraft and crew have had to be rearranged to cope with the closure of the airport and that the carrier is sorry for the disruption.
They stated on X: "Heathrow Airport has fully reopened and we plan to run a near full schedule with limited cancellations today. The impact on today’s flying programme is the result of yesterday’s airport closure following a fire at an electrical sub station nearby, which has included the repositioning of aircraft and crews. We’re incredibly sorry for any disruption to our customers’ journeys and we are working to ensure customers affected can complete their journeys as quickly as possible."
— virginatlantic (@VirginAtlantic) March 22, 2025
Tim Hanlon
British Airways cancels 80 flights due to head to and from Heathrow
Passengers continue to face major disruption at Heathrow Airport with British Airways has cancelling 80 flights to and from the airport.
Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Singapore Airlines, WestJet, Air India and Air Canada are also among those to have cancelled flights.
BA, which has a major presence at Heathrow, had said it expects to operate around 85% of its scheduled flights at the airport on Saturday. The airline would usually expect to run nearly 600 departures and arrivals on Saturday but it is understood cancellations will be made, where possible, to high-frequency routes.
A spokesman said: “We are planning to operate as many flights as possible to and from Heathrow on Saturday, but to recover an operation of our size after such a significant incident is extremely complex.
“We expect around 85% of our Saturday Heathrow schedule to run, but it is likely that all travelling customers will experience delays as we continue to navigate the challenges posed by Friday’s power outage at the airport.”
Tim Hanlon
Heathrow doesn’t expect ‘major delays’ to flights today
Chief executive of Heathrow Thomas Woldbye said that the airport is now running normally and he doesn't expect "major delays".
Flights resumed at the west London airport on Friday evening and restrictions on overnight flights were temporarily lifted following hours of closure, after a blaze knocked out an electricity substation in Hayes late on Thursday evening.
There has been a knock-on effect with cancellations and delays today and Mr Woldbye told the BBC that while it will be a "busy day".
A spokesperson for the airport also said: “We can confirm that Heathrow is open and fully operational today. Teams across the airport continue to do everything they can to support passengers impacted by yesterday’s outage at an off-airport power substation.
“We have hundreds of additional colleagues on hand in our terminals and we have added flights to today’s schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers travelling through the airport. Passengers travelling today should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight.”
