Boomerang flight path of passenger diverted from US

By Freya Gibson, junior OSINT producer 

En route from Dallas to Heathrow, Rafa and his fellow passengers were turned around mid-flight back to Washington.  

Flight data shows his flight took eight hours, just half an hour less than the time it would take to transport him to London.

The data, from Flightradar24, shows that Rafa, who was on board flight BA192, only reached airspace over Canada before being diverted back to the US. 

Rafa said he was told that, due to being on a larger aircraft, “only a handful of airports can take us in so we would have had to land in Germany or France, so we decided to turn back around and fly to Washington DC”.

He described the situation on the ground as unprepared in Washington and a “nightmare on all accounts”. 

The flight took off at 12.34am UTC and travelled for nearly five hours before diverting midair at 5.09am, then travelling a further three hours before landing at 8.29am.

European airline stocks down – as sector hit by ‘significant shock’

A bit of fallout in the business world now from the shutdown of Heathrow.

European airline stocks have fallen.

IAG, owner of BA, Aer Lingus and Iberia, was down more than 1.2%.

EasyJet was down 0.63%, and Wizz Air was down 1.52%.

Speaking on Sky News Business Live, Sree Kochugovindan, senior research economist at Abrdn, said: “This is going to be quite a significant shock to that particular sector.

“What we need to think about is how sustainable this impact will be, that will really depend on a couple of things.

“First of all, if it’s a one-off incident, and how quickly it will be resolved.

“If it’s a one-day shutdown, that will be much better than if this has an impact over the coming days.

“The stock market and economic impact will be determined by how quickly this is resolved.”

Just joining us? Catch up at a glance

Let’s recap everything you need to know if you’re joining us:

• Heathrow Airport is closed until at least midnight after a large fire at a nearby electricity substation;
• More than 1,350 flights have been disrupted, with Sky News told this could correspond to as many as 290,000 passengers;
• That fire is now under control, according to the London Fire Brigade, with only 10% still burning;
• Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the blaze, with the cause still far unknown;
• Terminals two and four are without power as disruption has spread globally;
• Meanwhile, the National Grid says it has restored power to 62,000 homes, while 5,000 are still without power.

The video below is the latest update from emergency services dealing with the issue. 

In it, the London Fire Brigade offers some details on the fire itself and respond to questions from reporters.

With likely hundreds of thousands of passengers in limbo, many will be wondering what their rights are.

We explain here what airlines should do for you:

Has your flight been cancelled? Have you been diverted to another airport? Have your plans had to change? We want to hear from you.

Send us your stories, pictures or videos – take a look at the details in our pinned post for more information.

Your stories: Family charged £1,100 for one night in Heathrow hotel

A little earlier we heard from traveller Louis, who accused hotels near Heathrow of tripling the price of their rooms.

Now another customer, Ellis McDonald, says her family of five has been set back £1,100 to stay one night at Staybridge Suites next to the airport after their trip to Orlando was cancelled.

“This is such a terrible experience which is being made worse than it needs to be with poor communication and hotels completely taking advantage of an unfortunate event,” she said.

Sky News has contacted Staybridge Suites owner IHG Hotels and Resorts for comment.

Another traveller, Robert, said he had had a similar experience.

After “acting quickly” to secure a hotel room tonight for £124 “before most knew” about the airport closure, he says he has been quoted £500 for the same room on Saturday night.

‘Another example of Heathrow letting passengers down’

Amid the fallout from the substation fire, Heathrow has come under heavy criticism.

Among those questioning its planning for such an incident is the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which said the closure of the airport was “yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines”.

In a statement, the IATA’s director general Willie Walsh asked how such an important transport hub could be “totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative”.

He said that if this was the case, then it was a “a clear planning failure by the airport.”

He added: “And from that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of disrupted travellers. 

“We must find a fairer allocation of passenger care costs than airlines alone picking up the tab when infrastructure fails. 

“Until that happens, Heathrow has very little incentive to improve.”

Your stories: ‘We’re first-class passengers – but were treated woefully’

First-class passenger Sara Mehta says customers in Dubai are “extremely angry and upset” at the way British Airways responded to the Heathrow closure.

She says she and her husband received a “woeful” lack of information, eventually asking for their baggage to be taken off the aircraft two hours after their departure time.

While they were checking in this morning, Emirates had already cancelled its flights, she says.

“We are first-class passengers who cannot now get home until Tuesday.”

Joyce Casey was much luckier with Aer Lingus after her flight from Dublin to Portland via Heathrow was cancelled. 

“We were rebooked for a flight to the US later today. Aer Lingus agents handled massive crowds with courtesy and professionalism. 

“No riots, no shouting matches.”

How does today’s air traffic compare to a normal Friday?

You’d expect to see around 200 flights in the air bound for Heathrow at 7.45am on a Friday, but tracking maps from this morning show a completely different story.

Use the slider below to compare last Friday’s Flightradar24 map to today’s…

Heathrow disruption in numbers

With stories piling in from all over the world of those affected, a burning substation and an empty airport – let’s break down the chaos into some key numbers:

• An estimated 1,350 flights have been affected by the airport’s closure
• This is as many as 290,000 passengers, according to an aviation analytics firm
• 67,000 homes were without power, with 5,000 still affected
• The estimated cost could be between £20m-£30m, a travel consultant has told us
• Around 70 firefighters were dispatched to the fire itself
• There were 120 planes in the air due to land at Heathrow when the closure was announced
• 25,000 litres of cooling liquid were “fully alight” in the initial fire
• 29 people were evacuated from neighbouring properties
• And 10% of the fire remains ablaze
• The London Fire Brigade received 212 calls about the fire

Your stories: ‘Panic on our plane as it U-turned with no explanation’

Panic was “kicking in” on board Faisal Hamid’s flight from Dubai when it started performing a U-turn with “no explanation”.

“Then the captain announced the power cut and said that we were going back to Dubai,” the British expat said.

He and his two children, who are one and six, spent seven hours on the flight which should have taken them back to the UK for the first time since summer.

“Devastating. No idea when they will reschedule the flight but to be fair a hotel was arranged very quickly and all meals included.”

Over in Delhi, India, Tara made a 10-hour journey from Punjab for her flight to Heathrow, only to be told three hours after its scheduled departure time that the journey was cancelled.

She said she was stuck in India until Tuesday because no additional flights had been put on to UK airports.

“I was told I needed to rebook another flight myself as the cancellation was not the airline’s fault and everything over the weekend was already booked. Fuming to say the least.”

Meanwhile, David Cozens said Singapore Airlines were “trying to wash their hands of responsibility” over a flight diverted to Frankfurt, Germany.

He claims he was told to “sort your own way home” before the airline eventually started looking into bus replacements.

Counter-terrorism police leading investigation into fire, Met says

We’ve just had this update from the Met Police on the investigation into the cause of the fire, confirming counter-terrorism police are leading inquiries:

“We are working with the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire which remains under investigation. While there is currently no indication of foul play we retain an open mind at this time.

“Given the location of the substation and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now leading enquiries.

“This is due to the specialist resources and capabilities within that command that can assist in progressing this investigation at pace to minimise disruption and identify the cause.”