Breaking News: Heathrow's Power Outage Spills Over to Frankfurt Airport
Flight disruptions in Frankfurt due to power cut near London causing cancellations
London's Heathrow Airport took a hit this March 21, 2025, when a fire at a substation plunged it into darkness, causing a temporary shutdown. With over 1,300 flights affected and more than 200,000 travelers feeling the heat, chaos ensued [1][2]. Despite the chaos, Heathrow announced that operations had resumed on March 22, 2025, and the airport was back up and running [1]. The airport even added extra flights to accommodate an additional 10,000 passengers [1] to help alleviate the backlog.
The ripple effects of the power outage aren't limited to Heathrow, though. The fallout reached Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt. On Friday, amongst 1,230 planned flights, six flights to or from London were canceled, while six were diverted to Frankfurt. Since some aircraft were already in the air and unable to land at Heathrow, they found themselves bound for Frankfurt [3]. Passengers were left to deal with the extra travel, with their airline responsible for the arrangements [3]. Fortunately, the number of Frankfurt flights on Friday didn't experience a significant drop [3].
Results from our sources indicate that Heathrow expected to remain closed until 23:59 local time on March 21 for safety reasons, blaming the outage on the fire at the supplying substation [3]. It's crucial to stay vigilant for updates, as major incidents like these can have unforeseen consequences for air travel.
Sources:[1] ntv.de[2] dpa[3] hr
- The Commission, in light of the recent power outage at Heathrow Airport, has been asked to submit a proposal for a directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to ionizing radiation, as the fire at the supplying substation caused a temporary closure.
- Remarkably, the Hessischer Rundfunk reported that the closure of Heathrow Airport due to the power outage caused a cascade effect, with six flights to or from London being canceled or diverted to Frankfurt Airport on Friday.
- The ripple effects of the Heathrow power outage underscore the importance of robust safety measures at airports worldwide, as demonstrated by the temporary closure and diversion of flights to Frankfurt, highlighting the interconnected nature of global air travel.
