Travelers around the world have made themselves of chaos for days as a devastating 24-hour closure at Heathrow Airport led to air abnormalities in the air and dozens of cancellations.
One of the world's busiest airports – which facilitates more than 200,000 travelers a day – was forced to close on Friday after a fire at a nearby substation caused a major power outage.
American kites in the hope of landing in Heathrow seemed to make a fast U-turn on Friday when the fire raged and the spread of the closure, according to Flighttradar.
A total of 120 aircraft that are already in the air are reversed or reversed, in addition to flights that have been delayed and canceled as a result of the incident.
Passengers from San Francisco, Japan and Perth, Australia were trapped in the massacre, with an estimated 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow expect the day to progress.
That means that no fewer than 145,000 travelers can be hit by the closure, according to the Aviation data company Cirium.
Aircraft from Dallas, Chicago and Minneapolis all seemed to return home after a maximum of three hours.
Passengers on other flights leaving from the United States will touch instead at other airports throughout the country. A flight from Dallas will go to Bangor, Maine, instead of London, while a flight from San Francisco will land at Dulles International.
Shown: All flights in the air on the way to Heathrow, which were subsequently diverted
All planes that travel to the west in this image return to their destination of origin, despite the amount of time they have already spent in the air
The largest terminals of London – which facilitate more than 200,000 travelers a day – were forced to be closed on Friday after a fire at a nearby substation caused a large power outage
Flight US 146 from Newark was one of the first flights that were hit by the distraction while he was already in the air. It is now ready to land in Shannon in Ireland shortly after 5 hours. It would be at Heathrow countries at 5.55 am.
In the meantime, the QF9 Qantas flight from Perth to Heathrow has been diverted to Paris, while European airports are preparing for an inflow of aircraft that are too far in their journeys to return.
Amsterdam, Newfoundland in Canada and Helsinki are among some of the cities that accept diverted flights.
Tired passengers at airports around the world eagerly await news from their airlines.
A traveler who waits in a Toronto terminal said that his flight on his way to Heathrow still says it will start in 50 minutes.
“They don't have the heart to tell us,” he wrote on X.
Another traveler, whose aircraft left JFK two hours ago, Dailymail.com said they had been circling the heaven of New York since they left.
She said that pilots gave a single announcement 'about 40 minutes after we left and said the airport was closed.
'[The pilot said] We have to circling to dump fuel before we return to JFK, but did not say how long or if we would get a flight. '
During a flight from Japan, travelers who are in the air for 13 hours will be in Helsinki instead of London as planned.
Dramatic images show flames that tear through the structure while smoking waves in the night sky
Heathrow-bound flights from all over America seemed to return late on Friday when the word of the closure spread, according to Flighttradar
Aircraft from Dallas, Chicago and Minneapolis all seemed to return home after a maximum of three hours
Some happy passengers have been diverted to other airports in London. British Airways flights from Johannesberg, Lagos and Cape Town will now touch at Gatwick.
Travelers from Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Houston, Hamberg, Zurich, Dublin and Barcelona are among the scores that wake up to learn that their flights have been canceled.
The eruption broke out at 8 p.m. on Thursday and the busy airport, which sees an airplane country or on average takes off every 45 seconds, announced its closure six hours later.
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: 'Heathrow experiences a considerable power outage at the airport due to a large fire on a nearby electric substation.
On a flight from Japan, travelers who are in the air for 13 hours will be in Helsinki instead of London as planned
Flight US 146 from Newark was one of the first flights that were hit by the distraction while he was already in the air. It is now ready to land in Shannon in Ireland shortly after 5 hours. It was planned to land 5.55 hours on Heathrow
In addition to the diversions, dozens of flights to Heathrow are canceled from destinations around the world
An electricity station near Heathrow has set fire to – which left thousands of property in West Londs without power
'While fire staff responds to the incident, we have no clarity about when power can be reliably restored.
'To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on March 21, 2025.
'We expect significant disturbance and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reoping.
'We will offer an update when more information about the resumption of the operations is available. We know that this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we work as hard as possible to resolve the situation. '
Assistant commissioner of the London Fire Brigade Pat Goulbourne said: 'This is a very visible and important incident, and our firefighters work tirelessly in challenging circumstances to control the fire as quickly as possible.
'The fire has caused a power outage that affects a large number of houses and local companies, and we work closely with our partners to minimize disruption.
More than 200,000 people travel every day through the airport and the chaos that is expected from the closure will have drawn effects during the weekend (file image of Heathrow Airport)
'Firefighters have led 29 people to safety from adjacent property, and as a precaution, a 200 -meter cordon has been established, evacuated with around 150 people.
'Due to the considerable amount of smoke, we strongly recommend the local residents to keep their windows and doors closed.
'This will be a long -term incident, with crews that stay on the spot all night. As we enter the morning, it is expected that disruption will increase and we encourage people to avoid the area where possible. '
The cause of the fire remains unknown. No injuries have been reported so far.
