Airlines threaten Heathrow with legal action after airport closed due to huge substation blaze

A BODY representing dozens of airlines has threatened Heathrow with legal action, after the airport was closed due to a huge blaze at a local substation.

The 18-hour shutdown on Friday wreaked havoc for 200,000 passengers – with many seeking compensation for the disruption.

Heathrow Airline Operators' Committee, which represents more than 90 airlines using Heathrow Airport, has now said it will pursue legal action if its demands for repayment are not met.

Chief executive Nigel Wicking told Sky News: “If we don't get good enough recourse and repayment in terms of the costs, then yes, there might be a case for legal action”.

However, he said he hoped the matter could be “amicably settled at some point in time”.

He added: “I would hope not. But in some of these situations that's the only course once you've gone through everything else.”

The chaos, which unfolded on Thursday night, saw 25,000 litres of cooling oil igniting in a fireball, although the cause of the blaze is still unknown.

Scores of homes were left without power in the area.

On Sunday, National Grid chief executive John Pettigrew claimed two other substations serving the site were working and could have provided sufficient power to keep the busy airport open.

However, Heathrow hit back at Mr Pettigrew's claims, saying the “unprecedented incident” meant it would not have been possible for Heathrow to “operate interrupted”.

A statement added: “As the National Grid’s chief executive, John Pettigrew, noted, he has never seen a transformer failure like this in his 30 years in the industry.

“His view confirms that this was an unprecedented incident and that it would not have been possible for Heathrow to operate uninterrupted.

“Hundreds of critical systems across the airport were required to be safely powered down and then safely and systematically rebooted.

“Given Heathrow’s size and operational complexity, safely restarting operations after a disruption of this magnitude was a significant challenge.

“In line with our airline partners, our objective was to reopen as soon as safely and practically possible after the fire.

“The emergency services and hundreds of airport colleagues worked tirelessly throughout Friday to ensure the safe reopening of the airport.

“Their success meant that over the weekend, we were able to focus on operating a full schedule of over 2500 flights and serving over 400,000 passengers.

“Lessons can and will be learned, which is why we fully support the independent investigation announced by the Government yesterday.”

Flying Eze has contacted Heathrow for further comment.