Heathrow’s shutdown leaves thousands stranded

disrupts UK and International flights

Heathrow on Friday, March 21, 2025 got shutdown due to power outage.

CNN reports that at London’s Paddington station, crowds of people were seen standing around with luggage.

Many of them were looking frustrated and hopeless, as they got updates on the situation at Heathrow.

The updates on the situation at Heathrow rang out in service announcements.

Security workers at the station said they had expected it to be even busier amid the cancellations.

However, they expected the airport closure would continue to cause confusion throughout the day.

Foluke Oleniwen was one of the lucky ones who had just missed all the chaos at Heathrow.

She had safely arrived in London on a flight from Nigeria Friday morning.

This was just as the airport was beginning to shut down.

Oleniwen, 40, a support worker based in Gloucester, was heading to her base.

“I’m relieved and at the same time I feel empathy for people who were affected because that could have been me or anybody,” she said.

She said she also felt bad for those who risked missing important life events due to the delays.

Oleniwen said she was told about the fire after she arrived at the airport amid the commotion.

“I hope they’ll be able to sort it soon,” she said.

Los Angeles-based comedian Adam Conover was on his way to London for a gig.

But his flight to Heathrow was diverted midair.

Conover, 42, creator of “The G Word” on Netflix said in a phone interview on Friday,

“We were in the air for about it 90 minutes and they had just finished dinner service,

“Then the captain came on and said there was a fire … we had to turn around.”

After a brief nap, he said, he’ll be flying to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

There he will face a four-hour layover before flying out to Manchester.

At the time of this report. he said he planned to take an hourslong train ride before finally arriving in London.

He said the journey was a testament to how “hard the job of stand-up comedy is.

He further made a joke on how, after this experience, he’s likely to have some fresh material.

Australia’s flag carrier Qantas said today it has canceled and diverted fights following the closure of Heathrow.

Its Singapore-London and Perth-London flights were diverted to Paris today.

Buses were arranged to take customers on to London, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Another flight from London to Perth has been canceled and customers will be accommodated on other flights, the statement said.

The spokesperson said their teams are working hard to support impacted customers.

He concluded by thanking the impacted customers for their patience,” the spokesperson added.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates’ national airline, has canceled four flights.

This is following the closure of Heathrow.

One flight previously bound to Heathrow has been diverted to an airport in Germany.

Another fight from Heathrow to the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, was delayed until further notice.

The airline disclosed these diversions in a statement,

Etihad said it’s “working closely” with guests affected to notify them of the changes to their itineraries.

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called the substation fire that caused the closure of Heathrow “catastrophic.”

A backup generator at the substation near Heathrow Airport was also affected by the fire.

Miliband revealed this while speaking with Sky News, calling the situation “unusual and unprecedented.”

It is “too early to know” what caused the “catastrophic fire,” he said.

NATIONAL GRID

Miliband says he has spoken to the National Grid, which controls the country’s energy network, about the situation.

But added that he was reluctant to jump to conclusions about the fire’s cause.

Passengers carrying their luggage were met with empty check-in desks at Terminal 4 of London Heathrow on Friday.

This was as a result of a nearby fire that shut down operations across one of the world’s busiest airports.

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