By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-03-21 14:31:21 | Updated at 2025-03-21 19:37:48
5 hours ago
Watch as Sue, from Portsmouth, speaks to GB News Scotland Reporter Tony McGuire about her horrendous flight experience brought on by today’s Heathrow Airport chaos.
A fire at a nearby electrical substation that supplies it with power caused all flights taking off from the airport today to be cancelled while all heading in were diverted.
Sue only found out her flight home from New York was being diverted half an hour before it was set to land.
To her dismay, Sue was informed that her flight was not going to land in England and she would instead have to make her way home from Glasgow, Scotland.
“Then we took 40 minutes to get off the flight because they didn’t have the steps ready. It has been horrendous. People have been trying to get flights to all over Britain. I’ve had to get one for nearly £200 to go to Southampton and I’m still sat here.”
The closure will impact Europe's busiest airport, which welcomed a record 84 million passengers in 2024.
This represents an increase of three million compared to the previous high in 2019, before the pandemic.
Heathrow handles approximately 1,300 takeoffs or landings daily.
Sue was stuck in Glasgow Airport for seven hours
GB NEWS
According to Flightradar tracking site, at least 1,351 flights to and from the airport will be affected by the closure.
Globally, Heathrow ranks as the second busiest international airport behind Dubai, based on seat capacity data from travel firm OAG.
The closure announcement caught many flights mid-air, with 120 aircraft diverted to alternative airports.
A Qantas flight from Perth, Australia was redirected to Paris.
Meanwhile, a United Airlines flight from New York was diverted to Shannon, Ireland.
Images shared on social media showed huge flames and smoke rising from the substation.
Other videos apparently shot inside Heathrow's terminals revealed shuttered shops and deserted corridors, lit only by emergency lighting.
The airport's terminals are currently operating with minimal power.
Heathrow opened in 1946 as London Airport, named after a hamlet demolished to make way for its construction.
Located 25 kilometres west of central London, it serves 200 destinations across more than 80 countries through four terminals.
