Britain’s Heathrow airport has defended its decision to shut down operations for 18 hours after a power grid failure on Friday, with the airport blaming a fire at a nearby substation that interrupted its systems. The airport said it was forced to close while it reconfigured and switched to power from an alternative substation.
National Grid, the electricity transmission network provider, has disputed Heathrow’s account, with CEO John Pettigrew saying two other substations could have provided power during the crisis. However, a spokesperson for National Grid acknowledged that the failure of a transformer was an unprecedented event.
Heathrow airport said it took steps to safely restart operations after the disruption, but admitted that given its size and complexity, it was a significant challenge. Airlines such as British Airways are now tallying up the costs of the closure, while the government and Heathrow have commissioned reviews into what happened.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/24/business/heathrow-defends-decision-shut-airport-intl/index.html