London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest, said it was resuming flight operations Friday after a lengthy power outage caused by a fire at a nearby substation.
"Following an earlier power outage, Heathrow is now safely able to restart flights," the airport said. "To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will (be) running a reduced operation prioritising repatriation and relocation of aircraft."
The closure had caused widespread disruption, with more than 1,350 flights canceled today, according to FlightRadar24.
A Heathrow spokesperson earlier told Investopedia that it expected "significant disruption over the coming days."
British Airways had said that the outage would "clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers." Shares of British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group closed down nearly 2% in London trading.
According to data provider OAG, Heathrow is the world's second-busiest international airport by capacity this month, with just over 4 million seats, and fifth-busiest airport at about 4.3 million seats if you include domestic flights. The airport handled a record 83.9 million passengers in 2024, Heathrow said in January.
UPDATE—March 21, 2025: This article has been updated with Heathrow's announcement that flights can restart.
