Heathrow Airport has been forced to close for 24 hours after a fire tore through a power station in nearby Hayes, causing travel chaos. The busiest airport in the country is due to remain shut until 23:59 on Friday, leaving thousands of people stranded after last-minute flight cancellations. Passengers who find themselves in this unlucky situation should not panic, as there are laws and airline rules in place to help when holidays go wrong.
Those flying from Heathrow, arriving at an airport in the UK on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an airport in the EU on a UK airline will be covered under UK law. Airlines must provide affected passengers with assistance, such as food and drink, accommodation as the new flight will be on a different day, transport to and from the accommodation, and sometimes by giving a full refund.
The Civil Aviation Authority stipulates that airlines must provide passengers with these arrangements no matter how long it takes for them to fly to their destination or what has caused the delay.
However, airlines are sometimes unable to do this if a major disruption has stretched their capacity. In this instance, passengers must organise accommodation, travel themselves, and claim the cost back.
There is also the choice of getting a refund or accepting a new flight.
If the flight is cancelled with less than 14 days’ notice, compensation may be paid out if the delay is the airline’s fault, but this is unlikely as causes such as extreme weather events and strikes are not eligible.
The disruption at Heathrow Airport, which Flightradar24 said could impact over 1,300 flights, is expected to last for days.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025.
“We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
The London Fire Bridage said 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters responded to the blaze, when they discovered a transformer was alight. They reported no injuries.
