A passenger stands in front of a flight information screen showing cancelled flights destined for the Heathrow Airport in London, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi, on March 21, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
As many as 37 flights between India and London could be hit after a massive power outage at London Heathrow Airport forced it to shut operations on March 21.
“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage.
To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23:59 on 21 March,” the airport said on X, formerly Twitter.
It has advised passengers not to travel to the airport and contact their airline.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 1,186 flights (two-way) are scheduled between India and Heathrow Airport in March. This gives a figure of 38 flights a day. British Airways had one planned cancellation on Friday in advance.
Many passengers who take one-stop flights via airports in the Gulf such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha will also be impacted.
As many as 1.45 lakh passengers could be impacted, according to Cirium. There were 669 flights scheduled to depart on March 21, 2025.
Air India has six flights scheduled on Friday. It said in a statement that its London Heathrow-bound AI129 from Mumbai was returning to Mumbai; AI161 from Delhi was diverting to Frankfurt.
“All our remaining flights to and from London Heathrow, including AI111 of this morning, have been cancelled for 21 March.”
The airline’s flights to London Gatwick remain unaffected.
Published – March 21, 2025 03:23 pm IST
