The London-Heathrow (LHR) airport shut down for the entirety of Friday, March 21 after a fire broke out at a critical power station, forcing Europe's busiest airport to turn away all inbound planes for the day and raising the prospect of ripple effects through the weekend, including at other major hubs across the continent.
It's an unprecedented disruption, leading to nearly 800 cancellations and counting by Friday afternoon in London, according to data from Flight Aware. The mess began after a fire broke out at an electrical substation supplying power to the airport late Thursday evening, leading to a significant power outage.
The Heathrow Airport said it would remain closed until 23:59 p.m. local time on March 21.
Even if your flight isn't scheduled for Friday, anyone scheduled to fly to or from London this weekend should pay close attention to the status of their flight. Even if it isn't showing a cancellation or delay now, that could change at a moment's notice.
Both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic released statements alerting travelers to the disruptions, with British Airways saying in a staement: “This will clearly have an impact on our operation and our customers and we're working as quickly as possible to update travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond.”
Looking at the air traffic over North America just after 1 a.m. ET via Flight Radar 24 shows just a snippet of flights impacted by this fire. This is a flight pattern you'd expect to see during the daytime hours as planes from Europe bring travelers to the U.S., not during the middle of the night.
Flight cancellations and delays are an unfortunate reality in air travel. This disruption is just the latest in a years-long span of mass airline cancellations that have affected almost every carrier, from labor disruptions at European airports to Delta's meltdown last summer to Southwest's debacle over the busy holiday season a couple of years back to today.
So what should you do if you're impacted? It pays to be proactive.
The best thing you can do is keep tabs on Flight Aware's Flight Cancellations dashboard, which will show you statistics on flight cancellations and delays from yesterday and today. As of publication, Flight Aware showed that 70% of Heathrow's daily departures were already canceled – a number that is sure to grow as crews continue to deal with the blaze and airport officials scramble to get back online.
It's also a good idea to monitor your flight on your airline's website, smartphone app, use a great tracking app like Flighty or plug your flight number into a site like FlightRadar24.com. Airlines don't always automatically notify customers when they've made a change to flights. These tools can help you get the news faster.
If it looks like your flight will be canceled (or already is), it's best to explore rebooking options on your own. It can be much quicker – and better for you in the end – to research your options and proactively suggest a solution instead. When airlines get overwhelmed, your best bet is to provide a solution rather than wait for an agent to solve your problem.
Google Flights is our favorite search platform for finding cheap flights, but it's also a powerful tool to find alternate flights when plans change. You can filter by airline, zero in on specific departure or arrival times, and even search for flights into multiple airports at once.
Once you have a backup plan in place, getting in touch with your airline is the next step … and this can be easier said than done in times of trouble. When things go wrong, don't just stand in a long line to speak with a gate agent or employees at check-in. It's time to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.
Give these options a shot:
- Grab your phone and call your airline while you stand in line.
- If you've got a credit card with airport lounge access, head to the Delta Sky Club, United Club, or American Admirals Club and see if a lounge agent can help you.
- Fire up the site formerly known as Twitter and slide into your airlines' DMs. Or the airline directly through their app.
Finally, you need to know your rights. Over in Europe, all passengers are entitled to compensation for any cancellations or delays of just two hours or more … and this even includes uncontrollable events like a fire. If your flight ultimately gets canceled, you're due a full refund (not just a voucher) if you don't end up traveling – but it's up to you to ask for it.
You could use this knowledge to your advantage to get your money back and try your trip again later. Or you could pocket the money and rebook a new ticket on a different airline that can actually get you where you need to be.
Bottom Line
London-Heathrow (LHR) airport shut down for the entirety of Friday due to a severe fire, causing hundreds of cancellations that could easily stretch on throughout the weekend and spread to other major airports throughout Europe.
This is a developing news story, check back for details.
