London’s Heathrow Airport was shut down on Friday due to a fire at an electrical substation that supplies power to the airport, causing widespread disruptions in global air travel. Experts predict the chaos could last for several days, potentially costing the airline industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
The airport’s closure is expected to impact over 1,300 flights, with airline analytics firm Cirium estimating that more than 145,000 passengers could be affected.
Shukor Yusof, the founder of Endau Analytics, a Singapore-based aviation advisory firm, stated that the financial losses from the shutdown could reach “hundreds of millions of pounds.” Yusof explained that the effects would likely cause significant disruption over the weekend and into the following week, as airlines work to resolve the backlog of flights that were canceled or delayed.
Heathrow was the world’s fourth-busiest airport in 2023, handling a record 83.9 million passengers that year.
John Grant, a senior analyst at travel data provider OAG, estimates that it could take up to four days for the flight disruptions caused by the Heathrow shutdown to be fully resolved.
Cirium also noted that the disruption could extend over several days, as the incident affects aircraft, crew, and passengers, with limited available resources to help recover the situation. Airlines typically rely on tightly coordinated networks to ensure planes and crews are in the right places at the right times. Now, numerous carriers must quickly adjust their operations to reposition aircraft and staff.
Yusof from Endau Analytics explained that such closures impact more than just airlines and travelers. The entire network involved in airport operations, including retailers, cargo companies, jet fuel suppliers, and local communities relying on the airport, is affected.
“The focus right now is on minimizing the impact of the airport closure on airlines and workers,” Yusof said. It could take several days, or even weeks, for airlines to manage the backlog of passengers.
Shares of airlines operating at Heathrow saw significant drops on Friday. International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, fell as much as 5% early in the day, before recovering slightly to close 2.2% down. According to analysts, compensation for affected travelers will likely be one of the largest immediate costs for the airline.
Lufthansa shares dropped 2.1%, and Air France-KLM saw a 2.5% decline. Qantas shares fell 2.4% by the close of trading.
British Airways canceled all short-haul flights to Heathrow on Friday but was authorized to operate eight long-haul flights starting at 7 p.m. that evening. The airline also offered passengers affected by the Heathrow closure the option to rebook their flights for free on later dates.
