London’s Heathrow Airport fully resumed operations on Saturday, following a fire that disrupted its power supply and forced its closure on Friday, leading to widespread travel disruptions.
Although flights had begun to resume on Friday evening, the temporary closure of Europe’s busiest airport left tens of thousands of travelers stranded, struggling to secure hotel accommodations and alternative flights. Airlines also faced significant logistical challenges in repositioning aircraft and crew.
By Saturday morning, normal operations had resumed, though airlines were still dealing with lingering disruptions. Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, assured that while some delays and cancellations remained, they were being managed as part of the airport’s standard procedures. “We don’t expect any major amount of flights to be cancelled or delayed. There are some cancellations and there are some delays. We are handling them in the same way as we would normally do,” he told BBC radio.
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According to Heathrow’s departure board, most scheduled morning flights operated successfully, with only a few disruptions. British Airways, the airport’s primary airline, stated that around 85% of its nearly 600 scheduled departures and arrivals would proceed as planned. “We are planning to operate as many flights as possible to and from Heathrow on Saturday, but to recover an operation of our size after such a significant incident is extremely complex,” the airline noted in a statement. “It is likely that all travelling customers will experience delays as we continue to navigate the challenges posed by Friday’s power outage at the airport.”
A Heathrow spokesperson confirmed that the airport had deployed additional staff to assist passengers and added flights to accommodate an extra 10,000 travelers. However, the incident raised concerns within the travel industry about the reliability of critical infrastructure and the financial consequences of the disruption, which could amount to tens of millions of pounds.
“It is a clear planning failure by the airport,” said Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and former British Airways chief, who has long criticized Heathrow’s operational constraints.
Authorities stated that there was no immediate evidence of foul play. London Fire Brigade indicated that investigations would focus on the electrical distribution equipment, while police confirmed that the incident was not being treated as suspicious, though inquiries remained ongoing.
(Reuters)
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