Heathrow CEO Faces MPs Over Power Outage That Disrupted 270,000 Passengers
Transport Select Committee hearings focus on Heathrow's crisis response, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and warnings ignored before the March 21 shutdown.
- Heathrow's chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, testifies before MPs today regarding the airport's prolonged closure following a substation fire that caused a power outage.
- The March 21 incident affected over 270,000 passengers, with more than 1,400 flights canceled or diverted, causing significant financial losses to airlines and businesses.
- The Transport Select Committee is investigating whether Heathrow's infrastructure had a single point of failure and if earlier warnings about power supply risks were adequately addressed.
- Testimony revealed that Heathrow was warned days before the outage about vulnerabilities, including cable theft incidents, but questions remain about why partial operations were not resumed earlier.
- National Grid and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks are also under scrutiny for their roles in power restoration, as discussions about compensation and future resilience continue.
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