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TAKEAWAYS KEY
- London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest, closed for the day Friday following a fire at a nearby substation that caused a power outage.
- The airport operator announced that the hub will remain closed until 1159 local time (0759 ET) on Friday. The airport operator announced that the hub will remain closed until 1159 p.m. local (0759 ET) time on Friday.
- FlightRadar24 reported that today more than 1,350 flight cancellations were made due to the closure.
London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest, closed for the day Friday following a fire at a nearby substation that caused what it called a "significant" power outage.
The airport operator announced that the hub will remain closed until 1159 local time (0759 ET) on Friday. The hub will remain closed until 1159 p.m. local (0759 p.m. FlightRadar24 reported that over 1,350 flights have been canceled as a result of the closure.
"Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage," Heathrow said, adding that passengers shouldn't travel to the airport.
British Airways said that the outage will "clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers and we're working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond." In London, shares of British Airways’ parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group fell 2%.
According to data provider OAG, Heathrow is the world's second-busiest international airport by capacity this month, with just over 4 million seats, and fifth-busiest airport at about 4.3 million seats if you include domestic flights. Heathrow announced in January that the airport would handle a record number of 83.9 million passengers by 2024.
