Heathrow Airport fire: Will Heathrow schedule night flights to catch up after disruption?
Heathrow may be forced to run night flights when it reopens as it tries to catch up on the disrupted flight schedules.
Heathrow is closed until at least 11.59pm on Friday after a fire at a nearby substation in Hayes, west London, knocked out power for 100,000 residents and the airport.
The fire is now out but repair and investigation work has started - with one line of inquiry being that the incident was deliberate sabotage - and the airport confirmed early this morning that it would run no flights today - causing disruption to an estimated 200,000 passengers. In total there are about 1,300 arrivals and departures each day.
At the moment it is unclear how quickly flights will resume at Heathrow once it reopens - and whether it will run night flights.
Since 1962 there have been government restrictions the number of flights that are allowed to take off or land at the airport between 11.30pm and 6am each day. As a matter of course only 5,800 night-time take-off and landings are permitted annually, and there is also a quota on how much noise can be made - given that millions of people live under the Heathrow flight path.
The airport’s website says: “At Heathrow we do not have any scheduled departures between 10.50pm and 6am, or scheduled arrivals between 10.55pm and 4.50am. This means that there are no scheduled flights after 10.55pm and before 4.50am.
“We appreciate that noise created at night can cause greater disturbance to people. It is generally quieter at night and the majority of people are trying to sleep. Also, night noise may seem worse in the summer when people are more likely to sleep with windows open.”
The airport goes on to say that more than 90% of all the scheduled movements that operate during the night quota period are early-morning arrivals and the majority of these are scheduled to arrive after 5am. There are on average 16 landings a day at that time.
It adds: “Sometimes planes need to operate in the night period when they have not been scheduled to do so. This could be for a number of reasons such as delays that have built up during the day or for a technical fault with an aircraft that needs to be repaired.
“There is always a delicate balance to be struck as to whether a flight should be allowed at night, considering the effects on local communities, passengers and the airline network. Today we use a mixture of quota count and movement limits to control unscheduled night flights.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she has spoken with Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye.
She said: “This morning, I spoke with Heathrow airport’s chief executive to hear the latest on the unprecedented power outage and I am reassured they’re working tirelessly to reopen the airport as soon as possible.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in responding to this situation – particularly the emergency workers who have worked to contain the fire and keep everyone safe. I appreciate how disruptive this situation is for passengers, but until they hear otherwise the advice remains to avoid travelling to Heathrow.”