Air India on Friday said its operations to and from London Heathrow (LHR) have been affected by a temporary shutdown of the airport. Heathrow was compelled to shut down for the day after a fire in a substation in the western suburbs caused a power failure that affected more than 16,000 homes.
In a statement by Air India, the airline's AI129 flight from Mumbai to London was forced to turn back to Mumbai, while the AI161 flight from Delhi was routed to Frankfurt. The airline affirmed that all other flights to and from London Heathrow, including the AI111 morning flight, were canceled for March 21. Air India said it would issue updates on the resumption of operations once more information was available.
Nonetheless, the airline explained that its flights to London Gatwick were not impacted by the disruption.
On X (formerly Twitter), Heathrow Airport instructed travelers to avoid traveling and to reach out to their respective airlines for more information. The airport attributed the shutdown to a fire incident at an electrical substation that powers the airport, leading to a significant power outage. In order to secure passenger and employee safety, the airport was closed until 11:59 PM on March 21.
Reports say that some flights have already been redirected, and airport officials have cautioned of continued major disruptions in the next few days.
The Scottish and Southern Electricity Network, which powers almost four million homes in central and southern England and the north of Scotland, confirmed that the blaze broke out at the North Hyde substation, with emergency responders already at the scene.
Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, processes around 1,300 landings and take-offs each day and catered to a record 83.9 million passengers in the last year.
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