The News
London’s Heathrow Airport halted flights after a fire at a nearby power station cut off electricity Friday, unleashing global travel chaos.
The airport, the world’s second-busiest by international traffic, warned that the shutdown will remain all day Friday and that there would likely be “significant disruption” over the coming days.
Heathrow is a key hub for transatlantic flights as well as connections to the Middle East and Asia, with its closure set to directly affect more than 1% of all flights worldwide.
Passengers have been warned to not travel to the airport “under any circumstances” as emergency services continue to tackle the nearby blaze.
Flights from Bangkok were among those diverted to Brussels, and passengers on a flight from JFK in New York City have been diverted to Iceland, the BBC reported.
The incident highlights global air travel’s reliance on a small number of nodes: The airline industry’s intricate “hub and spoke” system sees long-haul flights travel to major ports that are linked to smaller cities by short-hop aircraft. Even the temporary closure of one of the great hubs, such as Dubai, Singapore, or Dallas-Fort Worth will be felt throughout the global air system.