London’s Heathrow Airport shuts down due to ‘significant power outage’

London’s Heathrow Airport has announced a complete shutdown because of a power outage due to a large fire nearby, causing massive disruption to one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, Report informs via CNN.

Heathrow’s closure is expected to affect more than 1,300 flights, potentially causing disruption for tens of thousands of travelers. Heathrow is Britain’s only hub airport, connecting to more than 200 destinations globally.

The airport is warning of “significant disruption” over the coming days. Heathrow said “passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens” and should contact their airline for more information.

The large blaze near Heathrow will be a “prolonged incident” with disruption for residents in the area expected to increase, according to the London Fire Brigade.

The closure of Heathrow Airport due to a nearby fire is expected to affect more than 1,300 flights, according to tracking website FlightRadar24, potentially causing disruption for tens of thousands of travelers.

Flights are being canceled and some already in the air are being diverted.

“Today’s total closure of London-Heathrow will affect at least 1,351 flights to/from LHR,” FlightRadar24 said on X. “That doesn’t include any flights that might be canceled or delayed due to aircraft being out of position.”

Airline analytics firm Cirium estimated that “upwards of 145,000” passengers could be impacted.

Earlier, FlightRadar24 said 120 flights bound for Heathrow were already in the air.