Energy secretary orders investigation into Heathrow disruption – live
Energy secretary orders investigation into Heathrow disruption
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has ordered an investigation into the Heathrow closure.
In a statement posted online, he said:
The loss of power to the Heathrow area has caused major disruption to thousands of people and many businesses. We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.
That is why working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the NESO to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future.
Key events
The National Energy System Operator (NESO), which will investigate the power outage, said it “welcomes the government’s commission”.
Fintan Slye, NESO’s chief executive, said in a statement: “We will now work with all relevant stakeholders to understand the lessons that can be learned to improve future resilience of Great Britain’s energy system.”
The Department Energy Security and Net Zero said it expects NESO to report back with its initial findings within six weeks.
Heathrow’s CEO has given his reaction to the government commissioning an independent investigation into the substation fire which caused huge disruption yesterday.
Thomas Woldbye said the airport welcomed the NESO’s investigation, adding: “We will support every effort to understand the causes and impacts of yesterday’s off-airport incident and we are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure a thorough investigation to help strengthen the airport’s future resilience.”
Ed Miliband, has ordered the National Energy System Operator to “urgently investigate” the outage.
Earlier, Woldbye defended the running of the airport.
It comes after Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, criticised Heathrow for the disruption, while the energy secretary.
We reported earlier that energy secretary Ed Miliband has ordered the National Energy System Operator to “urgently investigate” the power outage caused by a substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport on Friday.
He is working with Ofgem and using powers under the Energy Act to formally launch the grid operator’s investigation.
Akshay Kaul, director general for infrastructure at Ofgem, said: “We saw yesterday the huge disruption that comes when energy supply is disrupted, and it’s important we now understand how that happened.
“Households and businesses should be able to have confidence in the resilience of critical national infrastructure, and Ofgem will work with the government and others to ensure Neso’s review goes as far as possible to ensuring steps are put in place to avoid any repeat of an incident of this scale in the future.
“To the extent the review finds any breaches of standards or licence obligations, we will not hesitate to take action.”
Queues at Heathrow on Saturday were not noticeably longer than usual, with additional staff on duty to guide passengers through the airport.
A passenger at Heathrow said purchasing their flights in one booking had helped them avoid the worst of the disruption when a nearby fire closed the airport on Friday.
Rob Walford, 74, told PA: “We were in Nice with friends and we were due to fly into Heathrow yesterday.
“We were going to stay the night and then catch our flight to San Diego, so obviously, we didn’t do that.
“The wisest thing we did, though, while in Nice was take the tram to the airport and then rebook us first thing this morning. If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be here.
“The British Airways desk sorted it out: we’ve got a flight this morning that wasn’t going to be cancelled, so now we’re good.”
A woman accompanying a school trip from the US said flight cancellations at Heathrow on Saturday had resulted in a “stressful” end to their travels.
Speaking at the airport, Christine Eckles, 50, told the PA news agency: “It was a delay at first, a three-hour delay, and then we found out our flight to Chicago was cancelled.
“We’re having to work on how to get a new flight out with British Airways.”
Ms Eckles, who is accompanying students from Iowa, added: “It’s been stressful.
“We’re at the end of our trip and we have had a wonderful time in London and Paris, and everybody’s ready to go home and back to their spring break.”
Sammy Gecsoyler
Chirping birds and unbroken skies come as standard in many English villages, though not in Harmondsworth – which lies under Heathrow’s flight path. But Friday was different.
“It’s been peace and tranquillity,” said 72-year-old Andrew Melville, who has lived in the village, which straddles the border of London and Berkshire, for 49 years. “Especially not being woken up by transatlantic flights in the early morning.”
The travel hub, which is one of the busiest in the world, came to a standstill on Friday morning after a fire at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London. More than 1,300 flights have been grounded and counter-terrorism police have launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
The airport’s closure has caused travel misery for many but those living nearby have been given rare respite from the roaring planes that shatter the illusion of village life.
“Usually we get an early morning call and a late-night goodnight,” said Melville, describing the unsociable times that massive, long-haul jets land and take off. “Days like today are blissful because we can go about our normal lives.”
The last time people in the village saw the skies this clear was during the Covid lockdowns. “They were awful but this village was great back then. People running around, cycling on bikes and listening to the birds. You could even hear yourself think,” said Melville.
Energy secretary orders investigation into Heathrow disruption
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has ordered an investigation into the Heathrow closure.
In a statement posted online, he said:
The loss of power to the Heathrow area has caused major disruption to thousands of people and many businesses. We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned.
That is why working with Ofgem, I have today commissioned the NESO to carry out an investigation into this specific incident and to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure, both now and in the future.
Summary of the day
It has just gone 3.30pm in London. Here is a summary of the latest developments covered today:
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The chief executive of Heathrow, Thomas Woldbye, defended the running of the airport after a fire at an electrical substation stopped about 1,300 planes and disrupted the journeys of hundreds of thousands of global passengers. It came after Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, criticised Heathrow for the disruption. “This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines,” Walsh said
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Heathrow airport said on Saturday morning that flights had resumed after yesterday’s power outage and that the airport was now “fully operational”. It added that hundreds of additional staff had been drafted in to help clear the backlog of flights. The airport also confirmed that it had added 50 slots to Saturday’s schedule to facilitate an extra 10,000 passengers travelling through the airport.
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The closure of Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation dominated the front pages of British newspapers on Saturday. Friday’s closure is believed to be the worst disruption at Heathrow since December 2010.
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The National Grid has apologised for the disruption caused by a power outage that caused Heathrow airport to close on Friday. In a statement published on X today, the National Grid said it was “deeply sorry” and would be working closely with the government, Heathrow and the police to “understand the cause of the incident”.
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Several airlines announced they would restart scheduled flights both to and from Heathrow airport, including British Airways (BA), Air Canada, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Malaysia Airlines and Air India. BA said that it expected to operate about 85% of its scheduled flights on Saturday.
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Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said it was “good to see Heathrow airport return to full operations this morning”, in a post on social media. She added that the Department for Transport had lifted restrictions on night flights to ease the backlog and rail tickets could be used flexibly to help passengers.
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Counter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan police have been leading the investigation into the cause of the Hayes fire, which did not result in any casualties at the scene. “After initial assessment, we are not treating this incident as suspicious, although inquiries do remain ongoing,” Cmdr Simon Messinger said.
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David Omand, the former head of the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), said he was surprised at the length of Heathrow airport’s closure. Speaking to the BBC, Omand described it as a “national embarrassment”.
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Yesterday, Downing Street said there were “questions to answer” after a fire at an electrical substation closed down the airport, stopping more than 1,350 flights and disrupting the journeys of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
As well as disruption at Heathrow airport, passengers face a travel diversion if travelling to the airport via the M25. This also affects those driving to other locations, such as Gatwick airport, via the M25 as junctions 10 and 11 in both directions will be closed on 21-24 March.
Work starts at 9pm on 21 March and will be completed by 6am on 24 March.
A notice on the British Airways website advised allowing extra time and planning ahead for journeys to the airports.
Virgin Atlantic said on Saturday that it planned to run a “near full schedule with limited cancellations”, a day after Heathrow airport was closed due to an “unprecedented” loss of power caused by a substation fire.
In a statement posted on X, Virgin Atlantic wrote:
Heathrow airport has fully reopened and we plan to run a near full schedule with limited cancellations today.
The impact on today’s flying programme is the result of yesterday’s airport closure following a fire at an electrical substation nearby, which has included the repositioning of aircraft and crews.
We’re incredibly sorry for any disruption to our customer’s journeys and we are working to ensure customers affected can complete their journeys as quickly as possible.”
