Aussie passengers flying into Heathrow Airport London have been put on high alert after a massive blaze shut down the international terminals.
Heathrow – which processes up to 200,000 travellers a day – announced it would close on Friday after a blaze at a nearby substation caused a major power outage.
Up to 120 planes which are already in the air are being diverted or turned around, in addition to flights that have been delayed and canceled as a result of the incident.
The QF9 Qantas flight from Perth to Heathrow landed in Paris as European airports prepared for an influx of planes that are too far into their journeys to turn back.
Flight QF1 from Singapore to London service departed Singapore on Thursday evening local time and was also diverted to Paris.
It is likely that two Qantas flights scheduled to depart London today – QF2 to Syndye via Singapore and QF10 to Perth – will also likely to be impacted.
Qantas will contact customers directly if their flight is impacted and is expected to provide further updates on London services as information emerges.
The QF9 Qantas flight departing Perth and the Sydney-to-London QF1 flight via Singapore on Friday are scheduled to operate as normal to London, subject to Heathrow reopening in time.
A spokesperson for Sydney Airport told Daily Mail that passengers who are flying to a London airport must check in with their airline.
A Melbourne Airport spokesperson echoed this, saying that, while there are no direct flights to Heathrow, some passengers in transit might be impacted.
‘It is very likely we will have passengers due to travel on connecting flights to Heathrow, and we would advise them to contact their airline directly,’ they said.
British Airways, which regularly flies between Heathrow and n capital cities, released a statement urging customers due to arrive in Heathrow on Friday not to travel to the airport until further notice.
‘This 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,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Where possible, we’re redirecting inbound flights already on their way to Heathrow to other UK airports.’
Amsterdam, Newfoundland in Canada and Helsinki are among some of the cities accepting diverted flights.
Other flights have been diverted to other London Airports. British Airways flights from Johannesberg, Lagos and Cape Town will now touch down at Gatwick.
Travelers from Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Houston, Hamberg, Zurich, Dublin and Barcelona are among scores who will wake to learn their flights have been canceled.
The blaze broke out at 8pm on Thursday and the airport, which sees a plane land or take off around every 45 seconds on average, announced its closure six hours later.
A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: ‘Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation.
‘Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.
‘To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025.
‘We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.
‘We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.’
The cause of the fire remains unknown. No injuries have so far been reported.