More than 200,000 passengers have had their flights cancelled after Heathrow Airport was forced to close on Friday following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Many travellers arrived at the airport only to be turned away, with some describing the information provided as confusing.
One passenger, Ooso, who was travelling to Miami for his son's first day at university, walked from the roundabout outside Terminal 5 to the airport after the website showed his flight as 'on time'. He told the PA news agency: 'The website shows 'flight on time'. They only have a message not to come here, but to check updates. Updates are showing 'flight on time', but nobody is allowed to go in.'
Andrew Sri, his wife and three young children from Dallas, Texas, were visiting family in London and drove to Heathrow only to be told the airport was shut. 'I just wish they had updated us accordingly,' he said. 'At the moment, the schedule on our flight says it's delayed, so that's why we drove out. So now we've got here and they told us, 'actually the airport's been shut down'.'
Some passengers are stranded overseas. Megan Baker, 27, from Liverpool, waited hours at Abu Dhabi airport for a connecting flight to Heathrow before being told her flight was cancelled. She said she and her family feel 'very anxious'. Others face financial losses. Maria La Chica, 47, from Basingstoke, could lose nearly £1,500 after her flight to Washington DC was cancelled, where she planned to watch her favourite ice hockey team.
Louis, a 28-year-old video producer from Dublin, accused hotels near Heathrow of price gouging. His flight was rescheduled for Saturday, and he had to book a new room at a different hotel over fears of further cancellations. 'They've actually doubled, if not, in some cases, tripled the prices of the rooms based on what's going on, which is absolutely absurd,' he said.
