A raging fire near an electrical substation turned Europe’s busiest airport into a ghost town Friday, as London’s Heathrow shut down entirely, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers worldwide. The blaze, which sparked a massive power outage, crippled the travel hub and left airlines scrambling to reroute 1,350 flights, according to FlightRadar 24. Experts warn the ripple effects could snarl global travel for days.
West London residents reported a deafening explosion followed by a towering fireball as the substation erupted, plunging Heathrow into darkness. Flights already airborne were diverted mid-journey—some to Gatwick, others as far as Paris or Shannon, Ireland. Lawrence Hayes, a weary traveler from New York, found his Virgin Atlantic flight rerouted to Glasgow. “I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been awake,” he told the BBC, piecing together a grueling train trip back to London.
Heathrow, a titan of international travel with over 6.3 million passengers in January alone, hasn’t seen chaos like this since the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcanic ash cloud. While the fire is now contained, the airport remains closed, with no quick fix in sight.