Travel chaos as London’s Heathrow remains closed

A fire at an electrical substation caused the closure of London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday causing major travel disruption around the world.

Heathrow, the U.K.’s biggest airport and a global travel hub, will remain closed until 11:59 p.m on Friday, the airport said, with disruption expected to affect hundreds of flights.

According to flight-tracker site Flightradar24, 679 flights were scheduled to land at Heathrow on Friday, while 678 flights were scheduled to take off from the airport.

Here’s what airlines have been telling passengers due to fly into or out of the airport:

British Airways

British Airways advised customers not to travel to the airport until further notice.

“This will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers and we’re working as quickly as possible to update them on their travel options for the next 24 hours and beyond,” a statement said.  

″Where possible, we’re redirecting inbound flights already on their way to Heathrow to other UK airports.”

Virgin Atlantic

A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic told CNBC that the closure of Heathrow was having “a significant impact on our flying program both into and out of Heathrow.”

“All Virgin Atlantic arriving and departing flights are cancelled until 21:30 on 21 March, with the rest of today’s schedule currently under review,” they said in an emailed statement. “We kindly request that all customers do not travel to Heathrow or their scheduled departure airport, or contact our customer centre at this time and instead check their flight status at virginatlatic.com.”

Airborne flights operated by Virgin Atlantic are currently being diverted to other U.K. airports or returning to where they took off.

The airline said it would email affected customers with rebooking details, but said that due to availability, some customers may be booked onto flights on a different date or need to travel to or from a different airport.

Passengers whose flight was canceled and no longer wished to travel would be entitled to a refund.

Lufthansa

Lufthansa told CNBC it had canceled all flights due to arrive at and depart from Heathrow on Friday.

“Passengers affected by the flight cancellations have been rebooked on other flights and informed about it,” a spokesperson said via email. “This requires that contact details, such as email or phone number, are included in the booking.”

Singapore Airlines

A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines (SIA) said a number of its flights had been impacted by the disruption.

Flight SQ322, which left Singapore on Thursday, was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany, while flight SQ306, which took off from Singapore on Friday, was diverted to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Another flight that took off on Friday returned to Singapore.

Flight SQ318 out of Singapore has been canceled, the spokesperson added, as have many of the airline’s planned departures out of Heathrow.

“SIA will provide all necessary assistance to the affected passengers, including providing hotel accommodation, and reaccommodating them on alternative flights or land transport,” the spokesperson said. “Other SIA flights between Singapore and London Heathrow may be affected.”