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Heathrow: there is no alternative, says Europa

[ May 7, 2025   //   ]

While the sudden closure of London Heathrow following an electrical substation fire on 20 March had a profound temporary impact on UK supply chains, the episode demonstrates the main airfreight hub’s resilience says Europa Air and Sea.

The Europa Group’s forwarding arm says that the airport returned to normal operations within 48 hours of the incident.

Heathrow’s unexpected closure disrupted the supply of over £543m of goods.

Europa Air & Sea director, Angus Hind, said that quick thinking, communication and robust internal facilities were the airport’s saving grace.

He said: “The incident which caused the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights was a huge worry for us and our customers. Because most airfreight is carried in the underbellies of passenger aircrafts, as an industry we were preparing our own operations for disruption to continue for several days, or at worst weeks.

“Our biggest concern was getting goods across to the Middle East in time for Eid, which was just nine days after the fire. Because 80% of Europa UK’s airfreight imports and 90 per cent of our exports are handled through Heathrow, we were preparing for the disruption to continue for many days, and potentially weeks, to follow.”

However, he said, the response by the Heathrow Airport team and airline handling sheds was impressive.  Cargo that had been re-routed to other major European airports arrived on trucks within 24 hours, he said.

 “We are right to question why such critical UK infrastructure is reliant on one single power substation to fuel its operations, but I’d still argue that it is currently the best airport for handling British trade and I’m sure additional measures will be looked at.

He concluded: “In an ideal world, the UK would have a larger airport infrastructure to offer a diverse range of services and reduce our reliance on Heathrow Airport, but this is ultimately dependent on demand. With many regional airports not offering widebody capacity or if they do it is limited to a select few carriers, it makes it very challenging to utilise these facilities and more is routed via Heathrow.”

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