Tens of thousands of passengers across the world have been left stranded following the shutdown of Heathrow Airport due to a fire at a nearby electricity substation. The incident has led to massive flight cancellations, diversions, and mid-air turnarounds, affecting travelers from the United States, the Caribbean, India, and beyond.
Heathrow, one of the busiest airports globally, handles approximately 1,300 flights daily. When the shutdown occurred at around 3:00 a.m. on Friday, at least 120 flights were en route to the airport, with 36 still airborne four hours later as pilots scrambled to find alternative landing destinations, according to Flightradar24.
Passengers traveling from as far as San Francisco, Australia, and South Africa have been caught in the chaos. Aviation data firm Cirium estimates that approximately 290,000 travelers scheduled to fly to or from Heathrow will be affected.
Dozens of flights have been diverted to major European cities such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Lyon, leaving thousands of travelers stranded abroad. Some planes were forced to turn back to their points of origin, including New York, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Delhi. Air India has since canceled all London-bound flights.
In Dublin, all 34 scheduled flights to Heathrow were scrapped, further compounding the travel nightmare. One British couple, Sharon Towers and her husband, found themselves stuck in China, unable to leave due to strict immigration rules requiring a valid boarding pass for re-entry into the airport.
Meanwhile, a British Airways flight from Johannesburg landed in the UK, leaving passengers, including Dr. Don Cardy and his wife, Sue, in disarray. The couple, due to connect to the U.S. and Italy, was left with no assistance and had to spend £400 on an Uber to Manchester.
The unexpected shutdown has left passengers with little to no information from airlines. Some travelers reported circling in the air for hours before being forced to return to their departure airports. Others, like Ruben Cortez from Oregon, found themselves at an unknown airport with no clear plan for the next leg of their journey.
BBC weather presenter Simon King shared that his mother, flying from Jamaica, had her flight turned around mid-air due to the Heathrow closure. Similarly, flights from New York, Dallas, and Chicago had to return after spending hours in the sky.
Airports such as Shannon in Ireland, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Helsinki have been overwhelmed by diverted flights. A Qantas flight from Perth was rerouted to Paris, while flights from Japan were forced to land in Finland instead of the UK.
The fire, which caused significant power outages at Heathrow, has led to severe delays and cancellations, with no clear timeline for when normal operations will resume. Travelers remain frustrated as they await updates from airlines, many of which are struggling to rebook passengers on alternative routes.
As European and North American airports brace for continued disruptions, the Heathrow shutdown underscores the vulnerability of global air travel to unexpected infrastructure failures.
