A fire at an electrical substation in Nestles Avenue around 11.30pm yesterday (March 20) has caused power cuts to the surrounding area forcing Heathrow Airport to close.
Thousands of homes have been left without power and it has also affected electrical train lines.
There is no service between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport and severe delays between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.
TfL said on social media: “Heathrow Airport is closed due to a major power failure.
“Customers should not travel to Heathrow Airport and are advised to contact their respective airlines for further information.
“No flights expected to arrive or depart for the next 24 hours.”
Online flight tracking service FlightRadar24 said the closure would affect more than 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow. This includes 679 scheduled to land and 678 due to take off from the airport.
Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.
Heathrow spokesperson said: “Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation. Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.
“We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available.
“We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”
