Passengers heading to London’s Heathrow Airport faced major disruption on Thursday night after massive fires broke out at the airport’s electrical substation, forcing flights to be diverted midair. Among those affected was California comedian Adam Conover, whose American Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Heathrow had to turn back less than four hours into the journey.
The flight landed back at LAX at 10:17 pm, leaving Conover frustrated, as he is due to perform at a sold-out stand-up gig at London’s Leicester Square Theatre on Saturday night. However, thanks to his manager’s assistant, whom he praised as “a heroic woman named Maddy,” he managed to secure an alternate itinerary.
But Conover wasn’t the only traveller left annoyed. At John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, long queues formed at British Airways customer service desks on Friday afternoon as passengers struggled to rebook flights.
“We’re ready to go home – we really don’t want to be here anymore,” said Harriet Swarbrack, a tourist who had been visiting New York since Monday. She and her friend, Danielle Llewellyn, were three hours into their JFK-to-Heathrow flight when the captain announced the diversion.
“At this point, we’ll go to any city in Europe, but no one is being helpful in rebooking us,” Swarbrack added, wuoted by the New York Post.
JFK is Heathrow’s busiest travel route, with around 146 flights operating between the two airports every week, according to FlightRadar24.
Despite the disruption, Heathrow’s CEO, Thomas Woldbye, reassured travellers that the airport is expected to be fully operational again by Saturday morning.