Heathrow Chaos From Substation Fire and Power Failures

Heathrow Airport was warned about potential power supply risks days before a major fire at the North Hyde electricity substation resulted in a significant outage, affecting over 270,000 passengers. Nigel Wicking, the chief executive of the Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee, raised concerns on March 15 and again on March 19 about the airport's power resilience following incidents of cable theft that previously disrupted runway operations. Despite his warnings, the fire forced the airport to close on March 21. Heathrow's CEO, Thomas Woldbye, defended the closure, citing safety concerns due to the inability to operate the airport safely and emphasized that remaining open would have been disastrous. Wicking criticized the delay in shifting to alternative power supplies, suggesting Terminal 5 could have been partially operational sooner. The airport closure led to significant travel chaos and an estimated £100 million in losses for airlines.