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Qantas flights at London’s Heathrow Airport have been forced to divert after an electrical substation fire forced the airport’s closure.
Heathrow, the largest of London’s six commercial airports, will remain closed until at least 11:59pm local time on Friday, causing havoc in the surrounding airspace. At least two Qantas flights in the air have been forced to divert, while others set to depart Heathrow today will also be affected.
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“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage,” the airport said in a statement.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Among the approximately 120 flights diverted to other nearby airports include QF9 Perth–London, which is diverting to Paris, as well as QF1 Singapore–London; QF2 and QF10, which were slated to leave Heathrow today, will also be impacted, with QF10 cancelled and customers to be reaccommodated on other flights.
The Flying Kangaroo has confirmed it is monitoring the situation at Heathrow and will offer further updates as they become available.
“Our Singapore–London and Perth–London services were diverted to Paris today, with buses arranged to take customers on to London,” a spokesperson said.
“Our teams are working hard to support impacted customers and we thank them for their patience.”
According to data from analyst Cirium, more than 145,000 passengers could be affected by the closure, including 1,442 Qantas seats.
“This is an estimate based on the daily total scheduled seats and flights, which will not be full, and noting the various departure times around the world that could arrive at LHR on Friday,” Cirium said in a statement.
“On the LHR departures front, upwards of 145,000 total seats are scheduled to fly on March 21. There are 669 flights scheduled to depart March 21, 2025. The table below is sorted by flights.”
Qantas, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines, and Singapore Airlines are all among carriers offering services between Australia and London, either direct or connecting through hub airports.
“Project Sunrise”, set to launch next year, will see Qantas offer non-stop services to Heathrow from Australia’s east coast on specially modified A350-1000s.
