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Heathrow announced the restart of flights in a Facebook update on Friday, Mar. 21. The airport was closed after the fire knocked out power, forcing more than 1,350 flights worldwide to be canceled or rerouted.
The airport urged travelers not to head to Heathrow unless advised by their airline.
"Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery," Heathrow posted. "We're now safely able to restart flights, prioritising repatriation and relocation of aircraft."
Full operations are expected to resume on Saturday, Mar. 22.
The substation fire started late at night on Thursday, Mar. 20, the London Fire Brigade said. Firefighters received more than 200 emergency calls at around 11:23 p.m.
Callers reported huge flames coming from the transformer filled with 25,000 liters of cooling oil.
"This created a major hazard due to the still live high voltage equipment and the nature of an oil fuelled fire," the brigade said in a news release. "This remains a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging and very hazardous conditions overnight to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible."
Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters responded. About 10 percent of the fire remained active as of Friday morning.
The fire prompted London police to declare a "major incident" at 12:42 a.m. and around 150 people were sent to a nearby rest center. A 200-meter barrier was established and 29 people were evacuated from neighboring homes.
The outage left 67,000 homes without power. As of the latest update, 5,000 homes remained in the dark, as well as Heathrow's Terminal 2 and Terminal 4.
Tracking service FlightRadar24 said more than 1,350 flights were canceled or diverted. That includes at least 146 on Heathrow’s busiest route — New York City’s JFK — as well as flights from Boston, Washington DC, Newark, Baltimore, and Montreal.
One passenger told BBC News that she was rerouted to Canada on her way to her father's funeral in the UK.
"I saw the time on the screen started to increase," Tori Dunzello said. "I turned on my world map, and I started seeing a big U-turn, and I turned around and said to my husband: 'I think we're turning around.'"
National Rail suspended all train service to Heathrow terminals. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were among the airlines advising their flyers not to go to their departing airports if they were scheduled to fly to Heathrow.
Police said there's "currently no sign of foul play" but the investigation is now being led by counterterrorism police due to the fire's impact on national infrastructure.
"Given the location of the substation and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the Met's Counter Terrorism Command is now leading enquiries," the Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. "This is due to the specialist resources and capabilities within that command that can assist in progressing this investigation at pace to minimize disruption and identify the cause."
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the fire in a social media post.
"I know the situation in Heathrow is causing distress and disruption, especially for those travelling or without power in their homes," the prime minister said. "I'm receiving regular updates and I'm in close contact with partners on the ground. Thanks to our emergency workers for keeping people safe."
Firefighters urged people to avoid the area as power restoration work continues.
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