Airport Operator Stands Firm on Closure Amidst Finger-Pointing Over Heathrow Disruption
Rewritten Article:
Oh, the dramas at old Heathrow, eh? On a chaotic Friday, Europe's busiest airport shut its hatches, sparking a massive brouhaha. Thousands of travelers were left high and dry, while airlines shelled out a small fortune for the misfortune. But did Heathrow really need to pull the plug on all four terminals? Let's sort this mess out.
You see, it all started with a blaze at a power substation in North Hyde, west London. The inferno snuffed out the juice for more than 60,000 homes nearby, including Heathrow, causing quite the headache. Heathrow argued that they had to run for the hills and halt operations to safely shut down and reboot critical systems across the entire airport. Otherwise, things could have gotten downright perilous.
But then the big cheese at National Grid, John Pettigrew, spilled the beans to FT, stating that two other substations could've provided the juice all along. So, why was there a need to close shop?
Heathrow contended that the interruption forced them to play a delicate game of power-switching, moving from one substation to another. It ain't as simple as it sounds, with hundreds of crucial systems up for grabs. Given the size and complexity of the operation, restarting things post-disaster is no walk in the park.
A flurry of investigations is underway to find the root of this fiasco. Transport Minister Heidi Alexander weighed in, saying it's crucial to learn the lessons from this debacle. And they mean it, commissioning two separate inquiries to get to the bottom of things.
The British Airways blokes are now juggling the hefty bill for this flop. But who's footing the bill for the reviews? Well, Heathrow and the government, of course. But fear not, dear passengers. Heathrow's CEO, Thomas Woldbye, is standing tall, and Alexander remains confident in his abilities.
Heathrow's a private bitch, if you'll pardon my French. It's owned by a swanky French investment group called Ardian, Qatar Investment Authority, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, with other folks chipping in too. Wouldn't want to miss out on a piece of this action, eh?
Sources:1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/02/02/heathrow-shut-after-fire-north-hyde-substation-causes-power/2. https://www.ft.com/content/a997e56f-198d-4679-b5f1-d53c70d27b8e3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-598585134. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/heathrow-defends-shutting-all-four-terminals-amid-power-outage
- Despite the outage at a power substation, Heathrow Airport, a private enterprise owned by Ardian, Qatar Investment Authority, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, amongst others, could have potentially continued some operations if they had reconfigured their electricity supply from the available substations.
- The power outage at Heathrow Airport, forcing a shutdown of all four terminals, has prompted investigations led by Transport Minister Heidi Alexander to learn lessons from this incident, with the aim of preventing such occurrences in the future.
- Besides the financial repercussions faced by airlines due to the airport shutdown, the costs for the reviews resulting from the power outage have been agreed by Heathrow and the government, demonstrating their commitment to addressing and resolving the issues that arose from the sudden blackout.
