On March 22, 2025, London's Heathrow Airport experienced a dramatic incident that led to a 16-hour closure of the airport and affected thousands of travelers worldwide. The power outage, triggered by a devastating fire in a nearby electrical substation, brought airport operations to a standstill. However, what was considered an unprecedented disruption raises questions—particularly regarding whether the airport would have been able to continue operating regardless. The CEO of the electricity network operator National Grid, John Pettigrew, made it clear in an interview with the Financial Times that Heathrow actually had sufficient alternative power sources.
The power outage began near the airport when a fire at the Hayes substation disrupted power to Heathrow. The fire, which, according to the London Fire Brigade, involved a transformer containing 25.000 liters of cooling oil, posed a significant hazard. "The situation was particularly dangerous due to the high-voltage equipment still in operation and the oil-fueled fire hazard," explained Jonathan Smith, Assistant Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade. Despite two other substations standing by to continue supplying power to the airport, Heathrow remained closed for more than half a day.
John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, stated in the Financial Times interview that the incident was "a unique event" and that Heathrow could have accessed the reserve substations at any time. He assured that the infrastructure had sufficient capacity to continue supplying the airport with electricity without disruption. Pettigrew added that the airport had a "high level of resilience" with the two additional substations available.
Heathrow defends itself
Heathrow itself responded to Pettigrew's statements, emphasizing that the incident was exceptional and that the airport would not have been able to continue operating without the necessary system adjustments. A statement from the airport confirmed that "hundreds of critical systems across the entire airport had to be safely shut down and then restarted with the utmost care."
The airport emphasized that the complexity of the airport and the scale of the operation posed such a challenge that an immediate continuation of flight operations was impossible. "It was not easy to safely resume operations after an incident of this magnitude," it added. The fire caused significant problems, particularly in Terminals 2 and 4, necessitating a reconfiguration of the power supply.
Reactions from politics
The political reaction was not long in coming. On March 24, 2025, British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander commented on the events, clarifying that the decision to temporarily suspend air traffic was necessary to safely restart the airport's systems after switching to an alternative power source. In a conversation with Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye, Alexander explained: "He told me that while there are multiple power sources for the airport, the fire caused significant problems, particularly for Terminals 2 and 4, so all systems had to be shut down and restarted after a safe transition."
Criticism and questions about responsibility
Given the disruption and the far-reaching impact on travelers, questions arose as to whether the airport was adequately prepared for such a crisis. At a hearing on March 22, 2025, Heathrow CEO Woldbye was asked whether he should continue in his position. When asked whether he was still the right man for the job, he replied "no comment." This response drew criticism, as the situation significantly impacted travelers and the airport management was held accountable in the public eye.
Despite the crisis, Heathrow continued operations on March 24, 2025, and planned over 1.300 flights that day. The airport stated on its social media channels that "continuing operations remains our ongoing goal to assist passengers as quickly and safely as possible." However, the incident clearly demonstrated how dependent modern airports are on stable power supplies and the impact disruptions to critical infrastructure can have on overall operations.
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