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A highly anticipated review into the circumstances surrounding the closure of Heathrow Airport on 21 March 2025, following a fire at a nearby electricity substation, has been published, concluding that the right decisions were made given the exceptionally difficult circumstances.
The Kelly Review — which was commissioned by Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited and led by Rt Hon Ruth Kelly, former Secretary of State for Transport — summarily notes that, while the resulting disruption was significant, ‘the decision taken by the Airport, approximately 90 minutes after the power outage, to stop operations immediately was correctly made and essential to protect the safety and security of people, as well as the integrity of the Airport and the UK border.’
The report goes on to say that Heathrow had a well-established Command & Control structure for major incidents, which overall worked well. It also outlines a number of recommendations going forwards on opportunities for improvements. However, the report notes that said recommendations ‘would not have altered the outcomes for this incident.’
The strong organisation-wide response and team effort are also commended in the review, without which could have led to protracted operations disruption and even longer delays.
In terms of energy resilience, the report recommends further work in this area, including that the airport carries out a full assessment of the effectiveness of its back-up power for critical systems and whether such systems can be proportionately retrofitted into an airport like Heathrow in the short- to medium-term.
“The evidence confirms that Heathrow made the right decisions in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Whilst the disruption was significant, alternative choices on the day would not have materially changed the outcome. The airport had contingency plans in place, and the report highlights that further planned investment in energy resilience will be key to reducing the impact of any similar events in the future.”
The Rt Hon Ruth Kelly, former Secretary of State for Transport.
Heathrow Chairman Lord Deighton said: “The Board would like to thank Ruth Kelly, Joan MacNaughton and Mark Brooker for their diligence in investigating Heathrow’s preparedness for the fire at the North Hyde substation and how the airport subsequently handled its impact. The Kelly Review is thorough with clear recommendations which the management team will be taking forward. This was an unprecedented set of circumstances, but the learnings identified in the Kelly Review will make Heathrow more fit for the future.”
Last month, interim findings released from a separate review into the North Hyde Substation outage noted that the root cause of the fire remains unknown.
Download the full Kelly Review to find out more.
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