Heathrow Airport has closed today (March 21) after a fire at a nearby electrical substation and as a result, flights have been disrupted and some even cancelled.
Some passengers are unable to fly due to the disruption while some who had flights coming into the airport have had to be diverted to other airports across the world.
The substation fire in Hayes involved 25,000 litres of cooling oil fully alight, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.
Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage.
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) March 21, 2025
To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.
Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport… pic.twitter.com/7SWNJP8ojd
Speaking to broadcasters at the scene in Hayes, London Fire Brigade deputy commissioner, Jonathan Smith said: “At 8.23pm on the evening of the 20th of March, London Fire Brigade received 212 calls to a fire in a high-voltage substation near Heathrow Airport.
“The fire involved a transformer comprising of 25,000 litres of cooling oil fully alight. This created a major hazard due to the still live high-voltage equipment and the nature of the oil-fuelled fire.”
Heathrow Airport flights diverted amid fire at substation
Using data from FlightRadar24, a service that allows members of the public to track flights of a variety of aircraft, PoliticsUK on X shared a list of all the airports that have received diverted flights today due to the Heathrow Airport closure.
Flights due to land at Heathrow have been diverted to airports across the world, including Nashville, Tokyo, Vancouver, Madrid and more.
According to the X account, seven flights were diverted to Amsterdam while Frankfurt, London Gatwick and Shannon, Ireland airports received six diverted flights.
Five flights were diverted to Washington, US while four arrived into Manchester.
Airports with less than four flights diverted from Heathrow Airport are:
- Goose Bay, Canada – 3
- New York, US – 3
- Paris, France – 3
- Chicago, US – 2
- Madrid, Spain – 2
- Los Angeles, US – 2
- Glasgow – 2
- Charlotte, US – 2
- Brussels, Belgium – 2
🚨 NEW: Where flights due to land at London Heathrow today have been diverted to:
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 21, 2025
🇳🇱 AMS (Amsterdam) - 7
🇪🇸 BCN (Barcelona) - 1
🇧🇧 BGI (Bridgetown) - 1
🇺🇸 BGR (Bangor) - 1
🇬🇧 BHX (Birmingham) - 2
🇺🇸 BNA (Nashville) - 1
🇮🇳 BOM (Mumbai) - 1
🇺🇸 BOS (Boston) - 1
🇧🇪 BRU (Brussels) -…
- Birmingham, UK – 2
- Zurich, Switzerland – 1
- Vancouver, Canada – 1
- Montreal, Canada – 1
- San Francisco, US – 1
- Miami, US – 1
- Montego Bay, Jamaica – 1
- Lyon, France – 1
- Reykjavik, Iceland – 1
- Tokyo, Japan – 1
- Helsinki, Finland – 1
- Newark, US – 1
- Denver, US – 1
- New Delhi, India – 1
- Cardiff – 1
Recommended reading:
- Why is Heathrow Airport closed today and when will it reopen?
- Keir Starmer thanks emergency workers after 'distress and disruption' at Heathrow
- What to do if you're flying from Heathrow Airport this week amid closure
- Cairo, Egypt – 1
- Baltimore, US – 1
- Boston, US – 1
- Mumbai, India – 1
- Nashville, US – 1
- Bangor, US – 1
- Bridgetown, Barbados – 1
- Barcelona, Spain – 1
Amsterdam has received the most diverted flight from Heathrow at the time of writing while a number of places across the world have received as little as one flight.
