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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Mark Sweney

Heathrow boss: better power supply to avoid outage repeat could cost £1bn

A plane takes off as smoke rises from an area of an electricity substation
A plane takes off as smoke rises from an area of an electricity substation a day after it caught fire, causing Heathrow to shut down. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters

The chief executive of Heathrow has said it could cost about £1bn to install a more resilient power supply system to prevent a repeat of the outage that shut Europe’s busiest airport last week, and that airlines could pay higher charges to help fund it.

Thomas Woldbye, who has been criticised for going to bed on the night of the crisis so he could be “better rested” to handle the fallout the following day, has said he was frustrated the incident occurred and would like to have handled it better.

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