LONDON –
Heathrow Airport in London was plunged into chaos after a fire at an electrical substation shut down operations at one of Europe’s busiest air hubs, forcing the airport to cancel or divert more than 1,000 flights Friday and removing a global linchpin of air travel.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye described the disruption as “unprecedented,” telling reporters Friday that the airport had lost power equal to that of a midsize city, and that although a backup transformer worked as it should, there had not been not enough to power the entire airport.
Some flights resumed late Friday, but Woldbye said, “We expect to be back in full operation, so 100% operation as a normal day,” by Saturday.
