London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest air hub, experienced significant disruption following a fire at an electrical substation that cut power to the facility and surrounding areas. The incident, which occurred on Friday, led to the airport's closure, impacting tens of thousands of travelers and potentially costing millions of pounds.

The London Fire Brigade responded to the fire, which Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne described as a “highly visible and significant incident.” Firefighters evacuated 29 people from nearby properties and established a 200-meter cordon, evacuating approximately 150 people as a precaution. The fire resulted in a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses, in addition to the airport.

Heathrow Airport announced its closure until late Friday night, advising passengers not to travel to the airport and to contact their airlines for further information. The airport cited a “significant” power failure due to the fire at the electrical substation as the reason for the closure.

The fire continued to burn, impacting power at Terminals 2 and 4, as well as affecting approximately 5,000 nearby homes. Counter-terrorism police were involved in investigating the fire as a “precautionary measure,” according to the BBC.

Experts estimate that the disruption caused by the power cut could take several days to resolve and cost millions of pounds. Aviation advisor Anita Mendiratta suggested that the disruptions could last two to four days, citing the complexity of re-routing passengers, crew, cargo, and aircraft. Aviation consultant Philip Butterworth-Hayes warned that it could take even longer, potentially