Heathrow resumes operations after fire-triggered shutdown

London’s Heathrow Airport returned to full operations on Saturday after a significant fire at an electrical substation led to a temporary shutdown, causing widespread disruption to global air travel.

The fire knocked out power for several hours on Friday, grounding flights and forcing major disruptions across the airport, Europe’s busiest.

While flights had started resuming Friday evening, the airport’s closure for most of the day left thousands stranded, scrambling for hotel rooms and alternative flights as airlines worked to adjust schedules and reposition planes and crew.

Heathrow’s CEO, Thomas Woldbye, confirmed that by Saturday morning, operations had largely returned to normal, with most scheduled flights departing on time. However, he noted that some delays and cancellations persisted as airlines continued managing the impact of the shutdown.

"We don’t expect a significant number of cancellations or delays moving forward, but there are some. We’re managing them as we usually would," Woldbye told BBC Radio.

Despite the airport’s full reopening, the ripple effect on the travel industry remained as airlines worked to address the backlog of affected passengers.