Thousands of American travelers face travel chaos after their flights were cancelled or turned around mid-air following a fire near London’s Heathrow Airport.
The airport shut down operations on Friday after a massive blaze at a nearby electrical substation knocked out power, forcing the cancellation or diversion of over 1,300 flights, impacting more than 100,000 travelers worldwide.
“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” airport officials wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
United Airlines said seven of their flights returned to their origin or were diverted to other airports, and added that all other flights scheduled to the airport on Friday were cancelled.
The route between Heathrow Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport is the busiest in the world.
James Manning/Press Association via AP Images
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