A fire at a substation near Heathrow Airport has meant that the airport has had to close for the entirety of Friday, causing confusion, cancelling flights and angering some travellers.
The fire started at 9:46 p.m. on Thursday night with emergency services called to the scene at 11:23 p.m.
The London Fire Brigade released a statement in the early hours of the morning saying they had the fire under control with a further update stating that 10 per cent of the fire was still burning.
An estimated 290,000 passengers will be affected by the time the doors open at 11:59 p.m. tonight. This is a result of a total of 1357 flights being cancelled both in and out of the famous London airport.
Many of the 290,000 people have taken to social media to voice their opinions and their concerns as holiday plans and returns home have been cancelled.
Counter Terrorism Police have been called to lead their routine investigation.
One X user said: “Overnighted in #heathrow last night to avoid hassle for today’s flight. Now going nowhere and it’s chaos. Trapped in hotel at T4 in an information vacuum. All we know is the airport is closed until 23:59 tonight. Our airline, @qatarairways have gone
missing.”
Another user expressed their disapproval at their change in destination, stating: “My flight from Barbados to Heathrow has just landed …. in Cardiff!!!! 😩😩”
Despite the negative reaction some users have thanked airports abroad for their help with one saying: “Thanks so much to @ATH_airport – stranded coming back into #Heathrow but the guys at Sky Express are FAB (despite an eye watering €500 return back to the UK🥺❤️)”
As well as flyers, some businesses have taken to social media to help stranded passengers find a place to stay: “If you are stranded somewhere without accommodation after the flights are cancelled at #Heathrow. We have a network of serviced accommodation providers across the UK and Europe. Drop me a DM and I’ll try to connect you.”
With the closure lasting until midnight and potentially until next week, many more people could be affected.
