Heathrow Airport closed today (March 21) due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation, affecting many flights to and from the airport.
As is the case with most disruptions at airports, passengers are being advised to check with their airline for the latest updates.
The airport remains closed until 23.59 today. Some airlines have warned passengers to avoid travelling to the airport as their flights won’t be going ahead for the time being.
British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Ryanair are among the airlines that have issued statements to keep passengers updated. Here is the information passengers are being given at the time of writing.
Airline updates following fire and closure of Heathrow Airport
British Airways
British Airways has said passengers “are advised not to travel to the airport until further notice” if they have flights today.
The airline added that it was “working as quickly as possible to update” passengers affected by the disruption.
Singapore Airlines
The airline has shared the flights that have been affected, taking to X, formerly Twitter, to update passengers.
It said that the following flights are affected – times of flights are all local:
Singapore to London Heathrow
- SQ322, which departed Singapore on 20 March 2025, diverted to Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany
- SQ306, which departed Singapore on 21 March 2025, will divert to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France
- SQ308, which departed Singapore on 21 March 2025, will return to Singapore, and the flight will be cancelled
- SQ318, which was scheduled to depart Singapore at 1245hrs (local time) on 21 March 2025 (cancelled)
London Heathrow to Singapore
The following flights will be cancelled:
- SQ305 departing London Heathrow for Singapore on 21 March 2025 at 0910hrs
- SQ317 departing London Heathrow for Singapore on 21 March 2025 at 1055hrs
- SQ319 departing London Heathrow for Singapore on 21 March 2025 at 2035hrs
- SQ321 departing London Heathrow for Singapore on 21 March 2025 at 2205hrs
The airline said it would be “contacting all affected customers to inform them about the changes to their flights.”
Passengers can check flight statuses via the website.
SWISS International Air Lines
This airline shared a statement following the disruption at Heathrow Airport: “London Heathrow Airport is closed today, March 21, 2025, due to a fire and associated power outage.
“SWISS is therefore cancelling all flights from Zurich and Geneva to the major UK airport for today, Friday, March 21, 2025.
“This concerns a total of 10 flights from and to Geneva with 944 booked passengers and 14 flights from and to Zurich with 1,969 booked passengers.
“As a precautionary measure, all flights from Switzerland to and from London Heathrow have been closed for sale tomorrow, Saturday, March 22.
“SWISS deeply regrets the inconvenience this has caused passengers. We hope that the situation at London Heathrow will return to normal as soon as possible.”
Virgin Atlantic
If you have a flight with Virgin Atlantic today, here is the current advice shared by the airline.
It said: “All Virgin Atlantic flights to and from Heathrow are cancelled until 21:30 on 21 March, with the remainder of today’s schedule under review. Flight Status information is being updated, so we appreciate your patience.
“We kindly ask customers not to call our contact centre due to high call volumes at this time. If your flight is cancelled, we will email to update you.
“If your flight has been affected, we’re offering flexible options to help you adjust your travel plans. you can choose to be rebooked onto the next available flight, reschedule your journey for a later date, or change your destination within our direct network. If you no longer wish to travel, you may also request a refund.”
easyJet
easyJet, which doesn’t operate at Heathrow, said it will 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.
Recommended reading:
- 1,350 flights cancelled and 1000s without power after fire CLOSES Heathrow Airport
- Why is Heathrow Airport closed today and when will it reopen?
- This is how you can claim compensation if your flight is cancelled or delayed
Ryanair
Ryanair said it would organise eight “rescue flights” between the UK and Ireland for passengers affected by the closure of Heathrow.
In a statement, the Irish airline said : “Ryanair will operate 4 extra flights between Dublin and Stansted on Friday afternoon as well as 4 extra flights on Sat morning.
“These flights can be booked on http://Ryanair.com from 09:30AM this morning.”
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