London Heathrow Airport fire sees more than 1,000 flights affected as airport closes

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) will be closed all day today (Friday March 21 2025) as a result of a fire at a nearby electrical substation, grounding flights at the airport and causing disruption around the world. More than 1,350 flights are thought to have been affected. Passengers have been told not to travel to the airport today and to contact their airline for further information.

The fire is now said to be under control and the UK’s counter-terrorism unit is investigating, but the Met Police has said that there is no foul play suspected. However, as airports are a key part of national infrastructure, this must be ruled out immediately. The counter-terrorism unit have specialist forensics in their skillset and can look for any evidence of an explosion or other deliberate act.

Tara Spielhagen, CEO of Swiipr, the compensation payment partner of several major global airlines, including the UK’s largest operator out of Heathrow, said: “It is another day of travel chaos with the closure of Heathrow and over 1300 flight cancellations. Passengers impacted by the shutdown are unlikely to be eligible for compensation payments if their flight is delayed or cancelled, as the fire will almost certainly be considered an extraordinary event. 

“We remain on high support alert with all our clients, as under UK regulations, airlines still have a duty of care towards passengers who experience significant disruptions, and must provide them with assistance – including the provision of food and drink and accommodation for overnight delays. Many other UK airports are likely to have increased traffic as travel to and from Heathrow spills over.

“Affected airlines will be under pressure to not only reschedule flights, but ensure they are meeting both their passengers’ needs and their regulatory requirements. As payment partner to many airlines, including the UK’s largest operator out of Heathrow, we anticipate a large amount of payments for passengers over the coming days. When last year’s global IT outage grounded thousands of flights, we saw a 200% rise in payments to passengers from airlines on the first day alone.”

Willie Walsh, the Director General of the International Air Transport Association, said: “Today’s closing of Heathrow will inconvenience a huge number of travellers. We thank those affected for their patience as airlines focus on getting them to their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines. And that begs some serious questions. Firstly, how is it that critical infrastructure—of national and global importance—is totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative. If that is the case—as it seems—then it is a clear planning failure by the airport. And, from that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travellers. We must find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone picking up the tab when infrastructure fails. Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve,” said