London Heathrow Airport said it was "fully operational" on Saturday, after an almost daylong closure sparked by an electrical substation fire. But airlines warned that severe disruption will last for days as they scramble to relocate planes and crews and get travelers to their destinations. The airport's boss said he was proud of Heathrow's response to the incident, but inconvenienced passengers, angry airlines, and concerned politicians sought answers about how one seemingly accidental fire could shut down Europe's busiest air hub, per the AP. "We have hundreds of additional colleagues on hand in our terminals and we have added flights to today's schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers traveling through the airport," Heathrow said in a statement, advising passengers to check with their airline before heading to the airport.
British Airways, Heathrow's biggest airline, said it expects to operate about 85% of its 600 scheduled flights at the airport on Saturday. More than 1,300 flights were canceled and some 200,000 people stranded Friday after an overnight fire at a substation 2 miles away from the airport cut power to Heathrow, and to more than 60,000 properties. The fire was brought under control after seven hours, but the airport was shut for almost 18. A handful of flights took off and landed late Friday. Police said they don't consider the fire suspicious, and the London Fire Brigade said its investigation would focus on the electrical distribution equipment at the substation.
Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye said he was "proud" of the way airport and airline staff had responded. "Remember, the situation was not created at Heathrow Airport," he told the BBC. "The airport didn't shut for days. We shut for hours." He said Heathrow's backup power supply, designed for emergencies, worked as expected, but it wasn't enough to run the whole airport, which uses as much energy as a small city. Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports for international travel—it saw 83.9 million passengers last year. Passengers on about 120 flights were in the air when the closure was announced, finding themselves landing in different cities, and even different countries.
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