Heathrow Airport closure affects 200,000 passengers

Heathrow Airport's closure due to a power cut on Friday has raised serious concerns, according to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The fire at a nearby electrical substation led to an 18-hour shutdown, affecting around 200,000 passengers. Starmer stated that airport leaders need to answer questions about this incident. Heathrow defended its decision to close, explaining that it took time to switch power sources after the fire. They acknowledged that lessons would be learned from this situation. The incident has sparked doubts about the airport's resilience and disaster response plans. John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, mentioned that two other substations could have provided enough power for the airport. He noted that he had never seen a transformer fail like this in his career. Despite this, Heathrow decided to shut down operations to ensure safety as they switched to National Grid's supplies. An investigation into the power failure has been ordered, and initial findings are expected in six weeks. Additionally, an internal review of the airport's crisis management will be conducted by Ruth Kelly, a former transport secretary. Heathrow has backup power systems, but these only sustain essential safety operations. A back-up transformer reportedly failed during the incident, which caused further delays. The lengthy closure has upset airlines, which incurred costs for customer refunds, rebooking, and accommodations. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander defended Heathrow's resilience plans, but she acknowledged they were not designed to handle total energy supply for the entire airport. The aviation industry is concerned about not being able to recover costs when disruptions occur due to airport management issues.