Heathrow airport in London resumed its full operations on Saturday a day after a fire interrupted the power supply and closed the busiest airport in Europe, causing global travel chaos.
Some flights were canceled or delayed while the travel sector struggled to redirect passengers and fix airline schedules after the huge fire in a substation that serves the airport.
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The resumption of flights began on Friday night, but the closing of the fifth busiest airport in the world most of the day left tens of thousands looking for scarce hotel rooms and substitute seats, while airlines were trying to return jets and crew to the foundation.
The operations were normal on Saturday morning, but airlines were still dealing with the consequences, the airport chief Thomas Woldbye said.
“We do not expect a lot of flights to be canceled or delayed. There are some cancellations and some delays. We are dealing with them the same way we would do normally,” Woldbye told BBC radio.
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The vast majority of scheduled morning flights came successfully on Saturday morning, with some delays and cancellations, according to Heathrow’s departure website.
British Airways, whose main Hub is Heathrow, said it expected about 85% of its schedule of almost 600 matches and arrival to continue on Saturday.
“We are planning to operate as many flights as possible to Heathrow on Saturday, but recovering an operation of our size after such a significant incident is extremely complex,” the airline said in a statement.
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“It is likely that all traveling customers are delayed while we continue to face the challenges imposed on Friday’s lack of electricity at the airport.”
A Heathrow spokesman stated in a statement sent by email that the airport had “hundreds of additional pairs available to our terminals and added flights to today’s programming to facilitate the passage of 10,000 passengers through the airport.”
Police said that after an initial assessment, they were not treating the incident as a suspect, although investigations were still underway. The London fire brigade stated that its investigations would focus on the electrical distribution equipment.
