Heathrow's Unprecedented Shutdown Sparks Blame Game and Reviews

Heathrow Airport faced criticism after a transformer failure led to an 18-hour shutdown, costing airlines millions. While National Grid maintained power availability, Heathrow defended its closure decision. The incident prompted reviews by the airport and government to uncover issues and prevent future disruptions.

Britain's Heathrow Airport faced a wave of criticism following an 18-hour shutdown last Friday, triggered by a transformer failure. The incident at Europe's busiest airport left airlines counting losses in the tens of millions of pounds and stranded thousands of passengers.

The shutdown has raised questions about the resilience of a vital piece of Britain's infrastructure. Both National Grid and Heathrow described the transformer failure as unprecedented, yet Heathrow defended the complete closure of all four terminals. National Grid's CEO, John Pettigrew, emphasized the grid's capacity to supply power to the airport during the crisis, noting that alternative substations were available.

Heathrow explained that a nearby substation fire led to the necessity of safely shutting down and rebooting critical systems across the airport. As British Airways and other airlines assess the financial impact, the airport and the government have initiated reviews to learn from the incident. Transport Minister Heidi Alexander highlighted the importance of these reviews in understanding the failure.

(With inputs from agencies.)