London’s Heathrow Airport Shuts Down After Fire, Leaving Hundreds of Thousands Stranded—What Travelers Should Know About the Disruptions

• A fire on March 20 has shut down Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom.
• Heathrow said the closure would last until 11:59 p.m. local time on March 21.
• The disruptions are expected to last for days.

Prepare for flight disruptions worldwide as England’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) closed following a fire, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Around 11 p.m. local time on March 20, a fire broke out at a nearby electricity substation that serves LHR, causing a power outage and even affecting the airport’s backup power supply. The power issues halted flights in and out of one of the world’s busiest airports, which saw 83.9 million passengers last year.

Investigators are looking into the cause; at the time of writing it is believed to be caused by a circuit malfunction.

According to The Associated Press, many aircraft were diverted to London Gatwick Airport (LGA), Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), and Ireland’s Shannon Airport (SNN).

Aviation analytics company OAG told Travel + Leisure that 1,332 flights scheduled for March 21 have been canceled and 51 percent of the flights impacted are operated by British Airways, the flagship carrier of the United Kingdom. In terms of flight volume, British Airways is followed by Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, and American Airlines.

• British Airways said it’s contacting all impacted customers and is advising its customers “not to travel to the airport until further notice.”
• Virgin Atlantic has canceled all flights “until midday on March 21” and is reviewing the rest of its upcoming schedule.
• Budget carrier Ryanair has added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and London Stansted Airport (STN) for March 20 and 21.
• Delta Air Lines, which canceled all 10 of its flights to Heathrow on Friday, issued a travel waiver through Sunday for passengers who need to rebook their flights.

The residual delays could affect at least 145,000 passengers in the upcoming days, aviation analytics company Cirrium shared with T+L.

“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage. To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” the airport said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information.”

LHR is the fifth largest airport in the world and in 2024, it was the fourth busiest airport worldwide.