Cargo and passenger operations hit by Heathrow shutdown

London Heathrow Airport, the main and largest international airport serving London, UK, has announced that it will remain completely closed until 11:59 PM today (March 21, 2025).

The primary reason for the airport's closure is a major power outage caused by a fire at a nearby electrical substation.

In response to a query from The STAT Trade Times, a Heathrow 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 made the decision 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."

This outage has impacted not only passenger but also cargo operations at Heathrow, a critical hub for air freight. In 2024, cargo worth £215.6 billion were imported and exported through the airport. Heathrow handled 72% of the UK’s total air cargo by value, underscoring its significance in global trade. The airport also provides access to over 200 destinations worldwide.

IAG Cargo, the freight division of International Airlines Group (IAG), manages the cargo capacity of five airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and LEVEL, primarily utilising the belly capacity of over 500 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft. With Heathrow as one of its key hubs.

In a statement to The STAT Trade Times, an IAG Cargo spokesperson said, “‘Due to a power outage in the London Heathrow area, London Heathrow Airport is currently closed. Our colleagues are actively working to minimise disruption and will be in contact with our customers.”

Virgin Atlantic, another British carrier that primarily utilises its belly cargo capacity, addressed the impact on its cargo operations in a statement to The STAT Trade Times. A spokesperson said, “We are aware of a fire at an electrical substation near Heathrow Airport, which has resulted in the airport’s temporary closure. Unfortunately, this has had a significant impact on our flying programme both into and out of Heathrow and all Virgin Atlantic arriving and departing flights are cancelled until 21:30 on 21 March, with the rest of today’s schedule currently under review.

If customers have a shipment booked for today, we are still able to accept export cargo to deliver into dnata City East. Our teams are working to rebook shipments, and customers will be able to see new booking details on the Virgin Atlantic Cargo Track and Trace. Virgin Atlantic Cargo is also still open for import collections as normal.”

Freight forwarders are also bracing for the impact of the closure. In a statement to The STAT Trade Times, a Kuehne+Nagel spokesperson said, “Despite this disruption, all Kuehne+Nagel sites and operations remain open and operational. While delays and capacity constraints are expected over the coming days, Kuehne+Nagel is implementing contingency plans to minimise disruptions to our customers supply chains.”

In a report published by the Associated Press, aviation consultant Anita Mendiratta stated that around 4,000 tonnes of cargo have been stranded due to the closure.

Earlier, the airport issued an advisory on X formerly called Twitter regarding the closure.

Due to the airport closure, many arriving flights to Heathrow were diverted to other airports in the UK, including Gatwick, Stansted, and Birmingham, as well as to European airports such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Brussels, and Madrid. Meanwhile, most departing passenger and cargo flights were cancelled, and many flights also returned to their origin-destination.

According to data from ch-aviation, at least 1,332 scheduled flights will be cancelled. The most affected airlines are British Airways with 677 flights, followed by Virgin Atlantic (62), Lufthansa (42), American Airlines (40), Aer Lingus (38), United Airlines (34), SAS Scandinavian Airlines (28), Eurowings (26), Swiss (24), Delta (20), Iberia (16), KLM (16), Air Canada (15), and Air France (14).

Reuters reported that due to the massive fire and power outage, shares of IAG Group fell by 2.3%, Lufthansa dropped 2.1%, Ryanair declined 1.8%, and easyJet slipped 1.5%.