MPs Hear Warnings About Power Supply Risks Were Given Prior to Substation Fire

Airlines had alerted Heathrow Airport about vulnerabilities in its power supply just days before a substation fire forced its closure, a parliamentary committee was told.

Speaking to MPs on the Commons transport select committee, Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, apologised for the disruption, which affected over 200,000 passengers on 21 March. He justified the closure, arguing that remaining operational under such circumstances could have been “disastrous.”

Nigel Wicking, head of the Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee, revealed that he had warned senior airport officials about power supply risks, including incidents of cable theft, prior to the fire at the North Hyde substation on 19 March. He stated that thefts had previously disrupted airport operations, including affecting a runway’s power lines.

Wicking criticised Heathrow’s response time in switching to alternative power sources, asserting that Terminal 5 could have resumed partial operations much sooner. However, Woldbye defended the airport’s actions, explaining that the extent of the outage made it impossible to ensure passenger safety.

“If we had not closed, thousands of passengers would have been stranded in unsafe conditions. The risk of overcrowding without the ability to process travellers would have been catastrophic,” he stated. He further noted that, despite some lighting remaining on, critical systems such as CCTV and fire surveillance were inoperative.

Addressing suggestions that some flights could have still landed, Woldbye clarified: “Aircraft could arrive, but passengers would have been left on the runway, which was not an acceptable option.”

Wicking argued that the 24-hour shutdown should have been under continuous review and suggested that more inbound flights could have been processed manually. He claimed that Border Force had both the resources and capacity to facilitate immigration controls under those conditions.