Cork passengers travelling to or from Heathrow on Saturday told ‘contact airlines for advice’

Cork Airport is advising all passengers booked on flights to or from London Heathrow this weekend to contact their airline for information.

Eight flights between Cork and Heathrow were cancelled today, following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. It forced Heathrow to close for the entire day.

Online flight-tracking service FlightRadar24 said the closure of the airport impacted at least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow, while 120 flights to Heathrow were in the air when the closure was announced.

The travel disruption impacted many other airports, including Cork, as airlines were forced to cancel and divert flights.

Speaking to The Echo, Barry Holland, communications manager at Cork Airport, advised that any passengers flying from Cork to London Heathrow, or also from London Heathrow to Cork, with Aer Lingus on Saturday or Sunday, to check with the airline for the most-up-to-date status of their flight.

“It is a very fluid situation at the moment,” Mr Holland said. “We will monitor the situation very closely, and we are keeping a very close eye on the matter.

“At this point in time, our advice to passengers is if they are affected by the cancellations, to contact the airline directly, whether that is Aer Lingus or British Airways, if they are travelling onwards connecting through Heathrow, to get an update on the status of their flight and rebooking or refunding options, if possible.

“It is important to say, all the other London services to London Gatwick, London Luton and London Stanstead, they are all operating as normal.”

Mr Holland added that events such as this closure show how fluid the aviation industry can be.

“That is the dynamic nature of the aviation sector,” Mr Holland said.

“Instances like this we are prepared for.

“It is not the first time that something like this has happened, and it won’t be the last time either.

“We just have to react to the situation and provide assistance to passengers as much as we possibly can.”

The Echo met passengers at Cork Airport yesterday morning who were impacted by the closure of Heathrow.

Alan Hayes arrived into Cork from Perth, Australia, to be greeted by his parents, John and Catherine; his sister, Laura Fitzgerald; and her boys, Conor and Eanna.

Mr Hayes saw his flight diverted to Paris, where he was able to catch a connecting flight to Cork.

Declan Hartnett’s flight to Heathrow was cancelled, and he was back from London on Leeside visiting his father, Patrick, in Bishopstown.

Mr Hartnett was rebooked onto a flight for Saturday morning, which meant an extra night on Leeside with his family.

“For me, personally, it is not too inconvenient, but I can imagine it is very inconvenient for some people,” said Mr Martnett.

“It will be interesting to know if Heathrow is not opened by tomorrow morning, that would be pretty serious. They are hoping it will be open by midnight, but they are not sure.”