Flight out of Heathrow? Here is the latest on waivers and cancelations
Over 1,300 flights out of Europe’s largest travel hub have been canceled after a fire and power outage.
The world’s fourth-busiest airport by foot traffic and Europe’s largest travel hub, London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is currently in 24-hour shutdown after a large fire broke out at the nearby North Hyde electrical substation and cut power to the airport.
Such a large-scale shutdown has already affected tens of thousands travelers and, by the end of March 21, will disrupt at least 1,300 flights coming into London from all over the world.
Stranded travelers: ‘Everybody is going to need a new flight’
As police and counter-terrorism operatives investigate the cause of the fire, passengers left stranded by the shutdown have been crowding at nearby train stations, trying to secure accommodation at limited airport hotels at inflated prices and in some cases getting bused to Gatwick Airport (LGW) for alternative flights.
“I'm sure everybody is going to need a new flight somewhere, somehow so I'm just trying to get ahead of that the best I can,” Tyler Prieb, a Nashville resident who ended up getting stuck in London, described to Reuters.
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United Airlines (UAL) announced that passengers slated to fly out of Heathrow would be redirected to any available seats on flights from Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris or Edinburgh in the coming days while the carrier would also be issuing travel waivers.
“You can reschedule your trip and we’ll waive change fees and fare differences but your new flight must be a United flight departing between March 20, 2025 and March 28, 2025,” the Chicago-based airline announced.
American Airlines (AAL) is requiring travelers to rebook their flights by March 22 — something that could be extended if the airport does not reopen or if the bottleneck makes this impossible — while Delta (DAL) has for now simply issued a statement saying that “due to the widespread power outage, travel to, from, or through LHR may be affected.”
Looking for a hotel? Get ready for more difficulties (and high prices)
In the meantime, travelers who are unable to find alternative flights reported a rush of others all trying to secure rooms at nearby airport hotels.
The Indepedent reported that the cheapest room at the Best Western London Heathrow Ariel Hotel was priced at £650 (roughly $838 USD) for the night of March 21 while the Crowne Plaza at Heathrow’s Terminal Four is at £485 ($627 USD) per night despite costing less than £98 per night on a typical day.
“They’ve actually doubled, if not, in some cases, tripled the prices of the rooms based on what’s going on, which is absolutely absurd,” one traveler told the local outlet. “They’re profiting off of people’s misfortunes in this. I don’t know how that’s allowed.”
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Amid the rush of travelers looking to fly out of nearby European cities, Eurostar announced that it will run two additional trains between London and Paris on the night of March 21.
“We understand the challenges faced by those impacted by the incident at Heathrow, and we are committed to helping where we can by providing additional travel options,” the railway operating connecting several Western European countries to the United Kingdom said in a statement on the new train schedule.
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