Air India Reinstates Flights at Heathrow Airport
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Synopsis
Air India has announced the resumption of its flights at London Heathrow after a significant disruption caused by a power outage. The situation affected thousands of passengers and led to the grounding of numerous flights.
Key Takeaways
- Air India resumes operations at Heathrow.
- Disruption affected 200,000 passengers.
- Power outage led to 1,351 grounded flights.
- Flight AI111 operated as scheduled today.
- Fire at North Hyde plant caused significant issues.
London, March 22 (NationPress) Following a day of grounded flights at Heathrow airport, Air India, the largest airline in the nation, announced on Saturday that its services to and from Europe’s busiest airport have resumed.
This disruption affected approximately 200,000 travelers, leading to the cancellation of at least 1,351 flights both inbound and outbound throughout Friday.
In an official statement, Air India confirmed that operations to and from London Heathrow (LHR) have “restarted after the interruption caused by a power outage at the airport yesterday”.
“Today’s flight AI111 operated on schedule, and additional flights to and from London are anticipated to run as planned. Flight AI161 from March 21, which had to be diverted to Frankfurt, is scheduled to leave Frankfurt at 14:05 local time,” the airline elaborated.
The airline had temporarily halted its flight services from Heathrow after the airport declared a closure until midnight on March 21 due to the power outage.
Reports indicate that at least 37 daily flights from India to London’s Heathrow were impacted, with various direct flights linking Heathrow with cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai.
Prior to this, inbound flights were redirected to other European airports after a fire broke out at the North Hyde plant in Hayes, west London, on Thursday evening.
The airport's CEO, Thomas Woldbye, expressed regret to the stranded passengers, stating that the disruption was “as significant as it gets for our airport” and that they could not guarantee complete safety.
A fire in a substation in western London resulted in a considerable power outage affecting over 16,000 homes. Additionally, British media reported that over 150 individuals were evacuated.
The London Fire Brigade deployed 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters, establishing a 200-meter safety cordon. Local residents were advised to remain indoors and keep doors and windows shut due to the smoke.
