London’s Heathrow Airport ‘Fully Operational’ After ‘Apocalyptic’ Fire And Power Outage

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

GAINESVILLE/LONDON/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Heathrow in London is “fully operational” after an “apocalyptic” fire at a nearby electrical substation brought Europe’s busiest airport to a standstill on Friday, its leadership says.

Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, said he’s “proud” of how the airport responded to the incident and is “sincerely sorry” for the disruption to at least hundreds of thousands of travelers.

Yet questions were raised about whether Heathrow should have been better prepared, given the hub airport’s critical importance—not least to the roughly 250,000 international travelers who were due to fly in or out on Friday.

Among those impacted are senior athletes participating in the 2025 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Gainesville, Florida. “We could just arrive before the fire broke out,” Hungarian champion athlete athlete Judit Kovács told Worthy News.

“But several of our friends will not make it in time,” added the former Hungarian Athlete of the Year and Olympics sportswoman. “Among those not arriving is Hungarian woman Mária Gosztolai, who, at age 76, is the best shot putter in the world at her age.”

Like Kovács, the multiple senior world champion attempted to fly from Budapest, Hungary, through Heathrow to the United States only to be told her flight had been canceled.

In addition to famous sportspeople, travelers worldwide were either delayed or did not arrive at their destinations, and numerous planes were redirected, often while in midair.

BROADER CONCERN

The fire at Heathrow also underscored that Britain’s National Grid has struggled to keep up with the burgeoning demand for electricity capacity in developing west London.

However, the supplier has refused to rule out that Moscow was behind an attack on infrastructure in response to Britain’s support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.

While local police said there was “no indication” of foul play, counter-terrorism detectives are reportedly investigating if anyone was directly responsible.

Critics are calling for an inquiry into what contingency plans Heathrow had available and what it could do about them. “It is not a good look for an airport demanding a third runway to abruptly have no planes on its existing two,” Britain’s The Guardian newspaper wrote.

But the left-leaning daily still saw hopeful signs in Friday’s misery, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost trade. “Perhaps the fact that a fire described as “apocalyptic” in the night was virtually extinguished by daylight by London’s firefighters; that power was restored before breakfast to most of the 67,000 homes also reliant on the North Hyde substation; and that all that occurred without casualty in the ground or air, also shows a certain resilience worth noting.”

The Heathrow fire also stranded passengers more than 1,000 miles (roughly 1,700 kilometers) away in the main airport of Hungary’s capital.

It overshadowed the celebratory mood of staff at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport, which just won the “Best in Europe” award from the Airports Council International for the second time in two years.

(With additional reporting from London, the United States, and the Worthy News Europe Bureau in Budapest.)

(Pictured from right to left athletes Judit Kovács, Andrea Simon-Balláné Kalamár, and Noemi Bátori in Budapest before leaving for troubled Heathrow Airport. Photo: Stefan J. Bos for Worthy News.)

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