Two Malta-Heathrow flights cancelled as major fire shuts down UK’s busiest airport

Two flights scheduled to depart from Malta to London Heathrow Airport on Friday afternoon have been cancelled, after a major fire at an electricity substation triggered a complete shutdown of the UK’s busiest airport.

According to the Malta International Airport (MIA) website, both flights – which were due to depart at 4:45pm – have been grounded following the unprecedented disruption in the UK.

Heathrow Airport was closed early Friday morning and will remain shut for 24 hours, after a fire at a nearby substation in Hayes, west London, led to a large-scale power outage across the sprawling travel hub. Airport authorities said they expect “significant disruption” over the coming days, with hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers affected globally.

@BBCLondonNews There’s a huge fire in Hayes – London, looks like North Hyde Electricity sub station pic.twitter.com/PJNpbHjZxu

— Vil (@fire_at_Vill) March 20, 2025

“Passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” the operator said in a statement on its website, adding that Heathrow would remain closed until just before midnight.

Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 reported that at least 1,351 flights to and from the airport will be impacted by the closure, with 120 flights already in the air when the shutdown was announced.

Meanwhile, Gatwick Airport – London’s second busiest – confirmed that it would be accepting some diverted flights from Heathrow. “Flights from London Gatwick are operating as normal today,” it said.

The London Fire Brigade confirmed it was responding to a “significant” fire at the Hayes substation, with 10 fire engines and approximately 70 firefighters deployed to the scene. Around 150 residents were evacuated as flames and smoke engulfed the area, causing the widespread power disruption.

“This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” said Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne. The blaze was first reported at 11:23pm local time on Thursday.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, the utility company responsible for the area, confirmed that more than 16,000 homes and businesses had been affected by an “unplanned outage”.

The impact has rippled across the global aviation network. United Airlines said seven of its flights were diverted or returned to their airport of origin, with all of its Friday services to Heathrow now cancelled. Australian airline Qantas confirmed that two of its flights en route to London – one direct from Perth and another via Singapore – had been diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Heathrow typically handles more than 80 million passengers a year, with around 1,300 takeoffs or landings per day. With five major airports serving the London area, capacity is already stretched, especially at Heathrow, which operates with just two runways across 12.3 square kilometres.