Heathrow shutdown: Scottish airports respond over 'lessons' from closure that hit 270k passengers

The power failure that shut down Heathrow airport and disrupted 270,000 passengers poses “no immediate issues or lessons for Scotland”, the Scottish Government has said.

Officials told The Scotsman they were not aware of Scottish airports having “any concerns” about power supplies, while the companies which run them said they had “robust” supplies and measures in place to deal with such incidents.

Edinburgh Airport passengers disrupted after the Heathrow shutdown on Friday | SWNS

The responses came days after Europe’s busiest airport was closed for 18 hours on Friday last week following a major fire in an electricity substation in west London.

The Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday the blaze was no longer being treated as a "potentially criminal matter" after finding no evidence the incident was suspicious. The cause is still being investigated.

However, thousands of passengers on British Airways flights between Heathrow and Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness airports were severely disrupted, many of whom were connecting with other flights at the London hub. Loganair flights between Dundee and Heathrow were also affected.

MPs on the Commons’ transport committee are due to question key figures involved in the incident on Wednesday, including Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye, amid concern at the apparent lack of adequate contingency measures for back-up power supplies.

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John Pettigrew, chief executive of National Grid , told the Financial Times the airport had "enough power" from each of two other substations, which were "always available". The airport has said the "unprecedented incident" meant it "would not have been possible for Heathrow to operate uninterrupted".

The Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland agency said it had been in contact with Scottish airports and the UK Department for Transport.

It said: “While there were no immediate issues or lessons for Scotland, we will, of course, be happy to engage with the sector should any issues arise that directly affect Scotland. We are not aware of any concerns from Scottish airports about power supplies.”

However, the agency said it had no direct role in day-to-day airport operations, which were regulated by the UK government and its agencies, such as the Civil Aviation Authority.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport - Scotland’s busiest - said: "We have robust supplies and well worked through contingency plans that we would revert to if necessary. It's good practice to review and check procedures regularly, so that's a constant for us."

AGS Airports, which operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, said: “Our airports continue to plan and have processes in place to deal with incidents that occur within the airports.”

Scottish Government-owned Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial), which includes Inverness and Dundee, also expressed confidence with its contingency plans.

Chief operating officer Darren MacLeod said: “Hial has robust measures in place to ensure our 11 airports have sufficient power. Contingency plans provide resilience should the primary power source be affected.”

Prestwick Airport in South Ayrshire, which is also owned by the Scottish Government, said: “Glasgow Prestwick Airport is supplied with electricity via the national grid, and we have back-up generators in place to support critical areas of the airport.

“These generators are tested regularly as part of our resilience procedures. We have procedures and plans in place to maintain safe and reliable operations.”