Heathrow back to full operations as passenger and cargo ops recover
The airport is now fully operational and functional, it announced on X, a day after being closed due to a massive fire that caused a power outage and severely disrupted cargo and passenger operations.
Flight operations have fully resumed at Heathrow. Earlier, the airport announced on Friday (March 21, 2025) that it would remain fully closed until 11:59 PM following a massive fire at a nearby electrical substation, which caused a power outage.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the airport announced that flights have resumed at Heathrow. It stated that the airport is open and fully operational, with all terminals and car parks now accessible.
Flight operations, however, gradually resumed on Friday evening after 7 PM. Flightradar24 data showed that a British Airways Airbus A380 was one of the first flights to land at Heathrow, arriving from Gatwick Airport at around 7:11 PM. Meanwhile, a British Airways Boeing 787-8 bound for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, took off at around 8:58 PM.
The airport also announced on X later in the night that flight operations had restarted and advised passengers not to travel unless instructed by their airline.
The outage created chaos at one of Europe’s and the UK’s busiest airports, resulting in flight cancellations, diversions, and delays. Many flights had to return to their origin, disrupting cargo operations and affecting over 200,000 passengers, leaving many stranded.
Following this incident, the UK government has ordered an urgent investigation into the power outage.
Regarding cargo operations, Mick Southall, Operations Director, Cargo at dnata UK, described in a LinkedIn post how dnata’s teams stepped up in incredible ways to keep operations moving. He said, “Our regional cargo and ground handling teams have shown their resilience, adapting to the changing landscape of diverted flights while maintaining their scheduled operations. Their quick thinking and coordination have been invaluable.
The demand for trucks to move diverted cargo to the right place has been huge, but our regional trucking operations have managed this with true excellence. Every request has been met with a solution.
Meanwhile, our cargo sheds at Heathrow have remained open and our teams there have been working tirelessly to accept and prepare cargo in anticipation and readiness of Saturday's flights.”
In a statement to The STAT Trade Times, Heathrow, along with airlines such as IAG Cargo and Virgin Atlantic Cargo, the cargo arm of Virgin Atlantic and freight forwarder Kuehne+Nagel, reported cargo disruptions and ongoing recovery efforts.
On Friday, in a video statement, British Airways CEO and Chairman Sean Doyle said the disruption will have a significant impact on all customers flying with the airline over the coming days.
Notably, it also affected cargo operations, mainly those of IAG Cargo, as it relies on the belly freight capacity of its parent company's passenger flights, including those of British Airways, which operates a substantial fleet of around 297 widebody and narrowbody aircraft.
However, British Airways later stated that it had operated around 90% of its Saturday flight schedule and expected to run a near-full schedule on Sunday.
On Saturday, the IAG Cargo website showed that it was unable to accept any freight at Heathrow. However, by Sunday, it showed that both loose and intact cargo were being accepted for Heathrow-origin shipments with a confirmed booking on a flight departing within 24 hours. While its other locations continue to accept all cargo with a confirmed booking as usual.
While Virgin Atlantic mentioned on X that the company planned to operate a near-full schedule with limited cancellations on Saturday, later on Sunday, the airline stated that it had fully stabilised and expected to run a full flying schedule.
A Lufthansa Cargo spokesperson, in a statement to The STAT Trade Times, said, “Due to the closure of London Heathrow Airport, all Lufthansa Group Airlines flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday, 21 March 2025 had to be cancelled. The cargo area of the airport was not affected on Friday. Booked shipments could be transported by truck via Birmingham or Frankfurt using Lufthansa Cargo's dense Road Feeder Service (RFS) network.”
“Our teams have been doing everything they can to minimise delays for our customers. We have been able to resume operations during the course of Saturday, 22 March. As a result, we faced a small backlog.”
Tim van Leeuwen, Vice President and Head of Consulting, Rotate in a LinkedIn post said “The closure of London's Heathrow Airport has huge consequences not just for passenger travel but also a significant impact on cargo flows. Using Rotate's Live Capacity and Air Demand data, we find that more than 10% of European cargo is directly impacted, with transatlantic capacity being the most affected, as 20% of cargo capacity on the lane is to/from Heathrow.”
Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Director General, Willie Walsh, questioned Heathrow’s preparedness and said, “Today’s closing of Heathrow will inconvenience a huge number of travellers. We thank those affected for their patience as airlines focus on getting them to their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines. And that begs some serious questions. Firstly, how is it that critical infrastructure — of national and global importance — is totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative. If that is the case — as it seems — then it is a clear planning failure by the airport. And, from that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travellers. We must find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone picking up the tab when infrastructure fails. Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged the distress and disruption at Heathrow, emphasised ongoing coordination, and thanked emergency workers for keeping people safe.
