First flights of day land at Heathrow as services resume after day of chaos
Watch: Smoking substation near Heathrow seen from above
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Gates are closing as it’s nearly wheels up at Heathrowpublished at 06:55
Here in the London newsroom, we’re closely following the departure boards at Heathrow.
The gates are now closed for all three of the first flights set to take-off from the airport this morning.
Later flights – departing at 06:05 and 06:10 – are also closing their doors.
It’s an optimistic start for the morning.
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Final call for Heathrow’s first flights of the morningpublished at 06:45
It’s approaching 06:00 in London and the first planes of the day are shortly due to take-off from Heathrow following the total closure of the airport in chaos yesterday.
Three flights – a Tap Air bound for Lisbon, an Austrian Airways to Vienna and a Swiss Airlines flight to Zurich – are all expected to depart on time.
Just one of the first 20 flights of the day set to take-off has been cancelled, according to Heathrow – the 06:35 to Istanbul via Turkish Airlines.
Eight planes were allowed to depart yesterday evening – all long-haul journeys.
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Nine planes due to arrive at Heathrow this morning cancelledpublished at 06:22
At 04:45 this morning, the first planes of the morning began to arrive at Heathrow after the chaos of yesterday – however a hangover remains.
Of the first 20 flights of the day, nine were cancelled. They were meant to have been arriving from all over the world – Singapore, Doha, New York, Nairobi and Lagos were just a few of the departure cities.
Heathrow is aiming for “full operation” today, chief Thomas Woldbye has said – though British Airways estimated 85% of its planned flights would run, but with delays throughout.
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A timeline of how the day unfoldedpublished at 01:18
Image source,Getty ImagesIt’s been 24 hours since emergency crews were called to a fire at a substation in west London, which led to the complete closure of Heathrow Airport.
Here’s a timeline of what happened:
- 23:23 GMT yesterday: Emergency services were called to a fire in Nestles Avenue, Hayes
- Just before 04:30 GMT, Heathrow Airport announced it was closed until 23:59 GMT due to a “significant power outage” caused by the fire
- 06:28 GMT: The blaze came under control. Thousands lost power and around 150 residents nearby were evacuated
- By lunchtime, the Met Police said there was no sign of foul play, though Counter Terrorism Command was investigating
- At 14:30 GMT, power appeared to be restored to Terminal 4. National Grid soon confirmed an “interim solution” for local customers and the airport
- At 16:00 GMT, Heathrow announced it was “safely able to restart flights” and aimed for “full operation” tomorrow
- Just before 17:00 GMT, British Airways said eight long-haul flights were given clearance to depart
- Just after 18:00 GMT, the first flight landed since the fire broke out
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Was your flight disrupted? Here’s what you need to knowpublished at 01:12
Image source,Getty ImagesFlights to and from Heathrow have now started again after the airport was shut due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation.
But there could still be some disruption in the coming days.
So what are your rights if your journey has been affected?
And can you get your money back?
Business reporter Shanaz Musafar explains everything you need to know.
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Watch: Resident recalls moment substation explodedpublished at 00:49
Dozens of homes were evacuated after a fire broke out at a substation near Heathrow late on Thursday night.
Residents in Hayes say they saw flames and smoke from their homes during the night.
Savita Kapur told the BBC she heard a “loud bang” and saw “this thing on fire”.
Media caption, ‘It looked like it was daylight,’ Savita Kapur says
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British Airways: 85% of Saturday’s flights to run, but likely delays for allpublished at 00:34
British Airways says it expects 85% of its Saturday schedule at Heathrow to run, but that “it is likely that all travelling customers will experience delays”.
In a statement tonight, the airline says it is planning to operate “as many flights as possible” to and from Heathrow on Saturday, “but to recover an operation of our size after such a significant incident is extremely complex”.
“We will be contacting all affected customers to advise them of their options, and we thank them for bearing with as work through these solutions,” it says.
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Late-night flights land at Heathrowpublished at 00:18
Image source,PA MediaImage caption, A plane lands at Heathrow Terminal 5 in London
We’re continuing to see pictures of flights touching down on the runway at Heathrow, making the passengers travelling on board some of the first to land at the international traffic hub after a day of disruption.
More flights will hopefully be taking off and landing there in the next 24 hours, as the airport says it hopes to run a full service on Saturday.
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Flights from six continents are on their way to Heathrowpublished at 23:50 21 March
Flights from six continents are on their way to Heathrow, with most expected to land in the early hours of Saturday, according to tracking website Flightradar24.
Three British Airways flights – from Hong Kong, Sao Paulo and Johannesburg – are en route to Heathrow, while Qantas expects its flight from Perth to arrive in London just after 06:00 GMT on Saturday.
A United Airlines flight from San Francisco is due around 07:00 GMT tomorrow, and a short-haul Qatar Airways service from Frankfurt will be landing at Heathrow this evening.
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Watch: How was Heathrow taken out of actionpublished at 23:27 21 March
Watch below as BBC Verify’s Nick Beake explains how Europe’s busiest airport was brought to a standstill – and the global impact that followed.
Media caption, BBC Verify: How was Heathrow taken out of action
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American Airlines says all Heathrow flights set to go-ahead tomorrowpublished at 23:07 21 March
We’ve just had a statement from American Airlines.
It says it expects to run its full schedule of flights to and from Heathrow tomorrow.
But – as always – it’s advising customers to check their flight status before going to the airport.
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First flights take off from Heathrowpublished at 22:46 21 March
Breaking
Image source,Flightradar24A British Airways flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has left Heathrow.
It’s one of eight flights the airline said would depart from the airport this evening.
Flight BA259 took off at 20:58 GMT.
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Transport secretary says investigation will be launchedpublished at 22:36 21 March
Image source,PA MediaTransport Secretary Heidi Alexander says Heathrow’s resilience plans worked as intended to protect key systems at the airport.
She says they were never designed to safeguard the entire energy supply for the whole airport.
Alexander describes the fire at the electricity substation near Heathrow as an “unprecedented situation” beyond the airport’s control.
But she says there will be an investigation into how the fire started and Heathrow’s decision to close operations for the day.
She adds that counter-terrorism services will be involved because the fire happened so close to a critical infrastructure site.
