Vietnam Airlines adjusts flight schedules due to fire incident near UK's Heathrow Airport

Additionally, flight VN56 from London to Hanoi has also undergone a schedule adjustment. Vietnam Airlines will provide further updates on the revised schedules of the two flights as new information becomes available.

A Vietnam Airlines representative stated that the incident may cause disruptions to other flights in the airline's schedule. Passengers affected by these unavoidable changes at the Heathrow Airport will receive support in accordance with the airline's policies.

Some flights began to land at London's Heathrow Airport late on Friday after a fire at a power station grounded planes at Europe's busiest air hub, causing travel chaos for thousands of people around the world.

The electricity substation fire shut down the airport for most of the day, leading to the cancellation or diversion of hundreds of flights and raising questions about the infrastructure's vulnerability.

Heathrow Airport's chief executive Thomas Woldbye said "tomorrow, we expect to be back in full operation".

"We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city," he said, calling it an "incident of major severity".

Planes from Heathrow serve around 80 countries, and around 1,350 flights had been due to land or take off from the airport's five terminals on Friday, according to the Flightradar24 tracking website.

Flights affected by Heathrow Airport's power outage on March 21, 2025. Graphics by Flightradar24

Around 230,000 passengers use Heathrow every day -- 83 million a year -- making it one of the world's busiest airports.

Late on Friday the London Fire Brigade said the fire was "believed to be non-suspicious" and that an investigation would "focus on the electrical distribution equipment".

Firefighters were called to the blaze shortly after 2320 GMT on Thursday and had brought it under control by 0800 GMT on Friday.

The airport shutdown left many frustrated passengers struggling to make alternative arrangements.

Talia Fokaides, 42, was supposed to leave London on Friday morning for Athens but rushed to Gatwick to get a new ticket when she heard the news.

Her mother was having open heart surgery later in the day.

"I just need to be there," she told AFP, her voice shaking with emotion.

Around 120 Heathrow-bound planes were in the air when the closure was announced, according to Flightradar24.

Flights from all over the world were affected by the closure, and aviation consultant Philip Butterworth-Hayes told AFP it would cost the airport and airlines "more than £50 million ($64.7 million)".