Heathrow Airport is shut until Friday night

[Ozgirl76]

And my husband is due to fly home to Australia on Friday evening. I predict chaos.
Airport is saying that people should not travel to Heathrow and should contact their airlines.

some flights are diverting to paris some to shannon

It must be an operational nightmare.

You'd hope they can divert as many flights as possible but with Heathrow being one of the world's busiest airports there won't be the capacity elsewhere to take anywhere near all of them.

It could cause problems for days. How long will it take for the power to be restored? Then planes will be in the wrong place, crew hours messed up etc. Nightmare.

After this is over, I would love to know who is in charge of this and how they even begin to sort this kind of mess out. Flights coming in, people already at the airport; you would need a feckin “to do” list as long as your arm.

We didn’t book the flight. It’s the return of a school exchange student who has been staying with us for a month.
So I guess we will need to work with his parents and look at options. But there’s also another student he’s travelling with as well. So there’ll be a fair bit to try and coordinate. It’s 12.30 at night where they are, so I am trying to leave them in peace too, for now!

Why are you online on a flight?

Ohhhhh I’d forgotten about the M25 closure as well.

Feel for anyone travelling (or due to travel) this weekend. @PenneyFouryourthoughts couldn't agree more on be nice to the staff. None of this is their fault.

You get WiFi on planes.

@MarchHare339 there's WiFi on planes now- certainly long haul at least! Times have changed since the 'can't go on your phone or you'll crash the plane' days.

Free WiFi on united airlines if you use your airmiles.

i wonder why they dont mention Luton and Stanstead?

Actually there’s been a spate of arson attacks across Europe over the past year that have been linked to Russia. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility.

imagine arriving unexpectedly in Shannon,
not a bad option! good craic

i feel for the staff

i just read that there may be a problem with refuelling in alternative airports
and also lack of staff

Was flying out of Heathrow this morning for the first time in years. Just my luck to choose Air Lingus over Ryanair for this trip! But not a toral
disaster as I am at home. Feel sorry for anyone landing miles away or a country away from where intended.

You’re a conspiracy theorist.

Luton - runway length/specs and stand size (as well as rules on numbers of flight movements) mean it can’t handle aircraft over a certain size or more than a certain number at a given time as they don’t have the space.

Stansted I’m not sure - it’s capable of handling A380s so it might be that there are other restrictions in place.

Indeed.

A whole bunch of staff at Heathrow are having a very bad day.

Nightmare.

In all other cases I am hugely dismissive of conspiracy theories but I think given what is going on in the world at the moment, thoughts going to Russian interference are quite reasonable. It has a strong air of the pre Olympic disruption, fire is a current MO.

It amazes me how airlines like BA don’t have emergency protocol in this situation. I’ve got a relative due to fly out around 11am today & all they have is an email saying there’s an issue and they’ll know more soon,
If the airport is closed all day, surely it makes sense to cancel the flight and trigger a rebooking link. Instead you just end up in limbo land, I know their IT is rubbish but we have the technology available for this stuff to be automated.

Why is Heathrow dependent on just one sub station?

Basic redundancy planning should include more than one power source.

TBH the Russian idea has possibilities IMO. Russia has tentacles stretching everywhere and have already been responsible for cyber attacks as well as everything else they are responsible for.

I’m in mainland Europe at the moment. Due to fly back to Heathrow tomorrow evening. I’m in 2 minds whether to see if I can just book an EasyJet flight for tomorrow going into a different airport. I have a strong suspicion my flight will be cancelled but I don’t think they’ll do that until the last minute, going by past experiences. Then it’s a scramble to find another flight, which probably wouldn’t be until Sunday, pay for another nights accommodation etc.

I feel really sorry for the people on long haul who were already in the air. So frustrating to be in the air for hours only to turn around. Or end up in a different country than where you’re supposed to be!

Hope it’s not too hideous for everyone travelling. I feel sorry for anyone living in that area too - presumably the sub-station didn’t serve just Heathrow and residents are affected too.

I’m pretty sure Stansted has the counter terrorism unit stationed there, and hijackings etc get diverted there. They might want to keep them operational as usual to ensure that function can still be deployed.