Heathrow Airport fire: Flights cancelled at Scottish airports as British Airways departures hit

More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow Airport will be disrupted because of the closure of the airport following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Online flight tracking service Flightradar24 said 120 flights to the airport were in the air when the closure was announced.

Edinburgh Airport has confirmed ten flights - all British Airways - to Heathrow and 12 from Heathrow are affected.

These flights carry about 2,800 passengers a day among 37,000 daily passengers at Edinburgh - about 8 per cent of the total traffic.

An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said: “Due to the temporary closure of Heathrow Airport, all British Airways passengers travelling to Heathrow are being advised not to travel to the airport and to contact British Airways for further information.”

A post from the airport on X added: “All flights with @British_Airways to @LondonCityAir are currently operating as normal, as are flights to other London airports with other airlines.”

British Airways services from Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness to Heathrow - which is Europe's busiest airport - have also been affected.

A spokesperson for AGS Airports, which operates Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, said: “Our airports are operating as normal apart from all flights to and from London Heathrow which have been cancelled for the remainder of the day. Any passenger scheduled to fly to Heathrow should contact their airline directly before travelling to the airport.”

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL), which runs Inverness Airport, has confirmed the 10am arrival from Heathrow and the 11:05am departure to the airport had both been cancelled.

The Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) has advised all travellers due to fly via Heathrow on Friday to check with their airline or travel agent as soon as possible following the airport’s unexpected closure.

An SPAA spokesperson said: “Heathrow is a vital connection point for travellers from Scotland heading to destinations around the world.

“Today’s closure is causing severe disruption and the situation is changing rapidly. Travellers with connecting flights – particularly those heading long haul – should not assume that their journey will go ahead as planned.

“When things go wrong, having a travel agent on your side can make all the difference.

“We’re hearing from SPAA members across Scotland who are working hard behind the scenes today to rebook clients, secure alternative routes and ensure minimal disruption to travel plans. If you’ve booked through a professional agent, you’re not facing the stress alone.”

EasyJet, which does not operate at Heathrow, said it would use larger than planned aircraft on key routes on Friday and over the weekend to accommodate disrupted passengers.

Several flights between the UK and Milan, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris, Munich and Madrid will have A320 aircraft with capacity for 186 passengers, instead of A319 aircraft which can only carry 156 passengers.

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline added up to eight rescue flights between Dublin and London Stansted - four on Friday and four on Saturday - to help stranded passengers.

Among those affected are Tartan Army football fans trying to get home from Athens after Scotland’s 1-0 victory over Greece in the first leg of their Nations League play-off.

One fan who should have been on an early flight to Heathrow before flying up to Scotland said she had managed to get booked on an alternative flight.

“The Greeks have actually been really fantastic,” she said. “We went to Aegean, but unfortunately they were all booked out, then we checked with Sky Express and they had a few seats - they do come with an eye-watering €500 price tag.”

She said people were in “high spirits” after last night’s win. “Thank God we didn’t lose.”

Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.

A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: "To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice, but to close Heathrow until 23:59 on March 21, 2025. 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.”

It is unclear how quickly flights will resume at Heathrow once it reopens.

The UK government restricts the number of flights that are allowed to take off or land at the airport between 11.30pm and 6am each day.

The airport’s website states: “Sometimes planes need to operate in the night period when they have not been scheduled to do so. This could be for a number of reasons such as delays that have built up during the day or for a technical fault with an aircraft that needs to be repaired.

“There is always a delicate balance to be struck as to whether a flight should be allowed at night, considering the effects on local communities, passengers and the airline network.”

But Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, predicted disruption from Heathrow’s closure would continue for several days.

She said: “An incident like this at one of the world’s busiest airports will have a very significant knock-on impact on all travel for the next few days.”

Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer thanked emergency services involved in the response.

In a post on X, Sir Keir said: “I know the situation in Heathrow is causing distress and disruption, especially for those travelling or without power in their homes. I’m receiving regular updates and I’m in close contact with partners on the ground.

“Thanks to our emergency workers for keeping people safe.”

Professor Rory Hadden, chair of fire science at the University of Edinburgh, said of the cause of the substation fire: “Although there are strict precautions to minimise the risk of a fire – the use of low flammability (high flashpoint) oils, containment in the event that there are leaks, and potentially even automatic fire suppression systems – the risk of fire in these installations remains real as there are large amounts of electrical energy around which could, usually when more than one thing goes wrong, cause a fire.

“Once ignited these oils usually burn and produce large quantities of smoke, which can make firefighting challenging and pose air quality issues to residents. Clearly it is too early to say what the cause may have been, but investigations will be commencing to understand what happened and to learn from that.”