Heathrow: According to the electricity supplier, the airport could have been supplied
The international airport in Heathrow, which had to be closed on Friday due to a power failure, could have continued to be supplied and opened, criticized the head of the electricity network operator in the Financial Times on Monday.
Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s most busiest airports, remained closed all day due to a power failure caused by a fire in an electric substation, before it was put back into operation on Saturday.
The closure led to a chain reaction of disorders in global air traffic, in which hundreds of flights were painted or redirected.
John Pettigrew, the general director of National Grid (the operator of the power grid), admitted on Monday in the Financial Times that the incident was « a unique event ». However, he criticized the airport’s closure on Friday and said that it had never been a lack of electricity capacity there.
« There was no shortage of capacity in the substation, » he said, claiming that two other substances were available.
Each substation was able to supply Heathrow sufficiently with electricity.
John Pettigrew
General Director of the National Grid electricity supplier
« Each substation was able to supply Heathrow sufficiently with electricity, » he said.
John Pettigrew « confirms that it is an unprecedented incident and that Heathrow would not have been possible to work without interruption, » a spokesman for the airport reacted in a statement.
« In view of the size and operational complexity of Heathrow, it was a great challenge to resume the operation after a disruption of this extent, » he emphasized and promised that « teachings can and will be pulled ».
London fire brigade: fire in substation under control
The Managing Director of Heathrow, Thomas Woldbye, said on Friday that the closure was not due to a lack of electricity, but to ensure the time required to ensure the transition from the damaged substation to the other two.
An investigation was initiated to clarify the incident. It was transferred to the anti -terrorist unit of the London police because it affected « on a critical national infrastructure ». However, the London police and the fire brigade announced on Friday that they did not consider the fire to be suspicious.
