More than 1,400 flights were diverted or cancelled by the near-total shutdown of Heathrow on Friday 21 March. A fire broke out in a transformer within the North Hyde electrical substation in Hayes, north of Heathrow, late in the evening of Thursday 20 March. In the early hours of Friday morning, 21 March, the airport announced it would close until at least midnight – though later that evening, some flights were allowed to depart.
The quarter-million passengers who were caught up in the 1,400-plus diversions and cancellations have now got an apology from the Heathrow boss. But they want more detail on what went wrong last time, the likely disruption next time – and whether they will get any compensation from the companies involved?
