Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Mar 21: London's Heathrow Airport witnessed massive disruptions as a major power outage forced the suspension of all services until midnight on March 21. Air India, severely impacted by the crisis, cancelled multiple flights, leaving passengers stranded.

The airline's Mumbai-London flight AI129 was forced to return, while AI161 from Delhi was diverted to Frankfurt. All remaining flights to and from Heathrow for the day were cancelled, though operations to London Gatwick remained unaffected.

The outage stemmed from a severe fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, West London, requiring emergency intervention by 70 firefighters. The resulting transformer failure left thousands of homes and businesses without power. As a safety measure, around 150 people were evacuated, and a 200-meter security cordon was established.

The aviation sector bore the brunt, with over 1,300 flights affected worldwide. Major carriers like Qantas and United Airlines had to reroute flights to alternative European airports, including Paris and Shannon. Heathrow authorities advised passengers to stay away and remain in touch with their airlines for updates.

This crisis is yet another blow to Heathrow, which has faced previous disruptions due to snowfall in 2010 and a Dreamliner fire in 2013. The latest outage underscores the vulnerability of major global airports to infrastructure failures.

Air India assured passengers that updates would be provided as soon as more information becomes available. Travelers are urged to monitor the airline’s official channels for flight resumption details and alternative arrangements.