London Heathrow’s air traffic resumes after fire, but delays and cancellations persist

Air traffic at London Heathrow Airport resumed on Saturday morning, with several flights departing and landing as scheduled, according to the airport’s flight status page. Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye had announced plans to be “fully operational” by Saturday. However, the BBC reported that nine out of twenty scheduled arriving flights on Saturday morning had been canceled.

The cancellations primarily affected long-haul flights. British Airways stated it expects to operate 85% of its flights but warned passengers to anticipate delays. Heathrow Airport advises to check travel information with passengers’ airline of travel.

Heathrow, Europe’s busiest passenger airport, was forced to shut down completely on Friday due to a power outage caused by a fire at an electrical substation. Limited long-haul flights resumed later in the evening after an exceptional suspension of the airport’s usual nighttime flight ban.

Approximately 200,000 passengers were impacted by the disruption. The Metropolitan Police stated that the incident is not considered suspicious, but investigations are ongoing.