Why Heathrow Airport boss 'went to bed' as inferno raged while 300,000 passengers faced flight chaos

22 March 2025, 22:05 | Updated: 23 March 2025, 00:03

Thomas Woldbye said he is 'proud' of how Heathrow Airport handled Friday's catastrophic closure.
Thomas Woldbye said he is 'proud' of how Heathrow Airport handled Friday's catastrophic closure. Picture: Getty

By Jacob Paul

Thomas Woldbye went to bed in the middle of the night, leaving Heathrow airport’s chief operating officer in charge as a fire raged through a nearby substation.

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Heathrow was thrust into chaos on Friday as Europe's busiest airport was brought to a standstill by a substation inferno, with thousands stranded, hundreds of flights cancelled, and over 100 nearby residents evacuated.

As the fire raged, Heathrow's senior leadership was split into two “gold commands”, according to The Sunday Times.

It was reportedly agreed that one would work through the night and the while would come in for the morning as the airport was gripped by chaos.

Airport boss Thomas Woldbye’s command allegedly took the decision to go to bed at 12:30 for safety reasons, Heathrow insiders told the outlet.

This reportedly left Javier Echave, the airport’s chief operating officer, in charge. He later made the call to close the airport at 1.44am.

Heathrow insiders said the decision for Woldbye to go to bed was taken for safety reasons. The big decision was not whether to shut the airport, but when to reopen. Ensuring the person at the top was well-rested to make clear decisions was paramount, they said.

Mr Woldbye dialled in at 7.30am to a "gold command" call the next morning and the airport's head office at 9.30am. Sources said it was vital him to be well rested to make the all-important decision of when to re-open the airport with a clear head.

The Heathrow boss has desired the "major incident" at Heathrow was "unprecedented" as they had to re-route the power supply after the blaze.

After a day of chaos, a Heathrow spokesperson confirmed this morning that the airport is now "open and fully operational" but warned passengers to check with their airlines.

Fire At Substation Grounds Flights At Heathrow For The Day
Fire At Substation Grounds Flights At Heathrow For The Day. Picture: Getty

Woldbye told the BBC that he is "sincerely sorry" for the inconvenience to passengers.

"We were handling the consequences of that failure," he said.

"Heathrow uses as much energy as a city every day," he continued, explaining that power outages bring the airports huge operation to a standstill for hours.

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Counter-terrorism police are currently leading the investigation into the incident - however the Met says there's currently no indication of foul play.

On Saturday morning London Heathrow to Zurich took off at 6:11am, just eleven minutes delayed, while London Heathrow to Madrid took off at 6:16am.

More than 200,000 passengers were affected on Friday, with thousands of homes were left without power leading to around 150 people to be evacuated from surrounding properties in Hayes, west London.

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Travellers arrive at Terminal 2 as Heathrow Airport slowly resumes flights after a fire cut power to Europe's busiest airport in London, Saturday, March 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Travellers arrive at Terminal 2 as Heathrow Airport slowly resumes flights after a fire cut power to Europe's busiest airport in London, Saturday, March 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth). Picture: Alamy

The blaze began just after midnight an electricity substation in Hayes, close to Heathrow Airport, with the travel hub remaining closed for most of Friday.

The incident saw a transformer catch fire, with London Fire Brigade Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Smith confirming the fire involved "a transformer containing 25,000 litres of cooling oil".

He added: "This created a major hazard owing to the still live high voltage equipment and the nature of an oil fuelled fire."

Flights Resume As Heathrow Re-opens
Flights Resume As Heathrow Re-opens. Picture: Getty

Met Commander Simon Messenger said the incident is now "believed to be non-suspicious".

It comes as the first flight began to land at Heathrow following a total shutdown of the airport, with Europe's busiest travel hub prioritising customers diverted to European airports.

Heathrow continues to warn passengers not to travel to the airport unless advised by their airline.

A Heathrow spokesperson told LBC:  “We do not recognise the description of proceedings as set out in the Sunday Times. We have a robust crisis protocol that ensures we have experienced leaders able to take key decisions having had adequate rest - without compromising passenger or colleague safety by being too tired.

"This protocol was followed so that Thomas, and his whole senior leadership team, were exactly where they were supposed to be during an incident of this scale. Under round-the-clock leadership, teams across Heathrow were able to fully reopen in 24 hours and deliver an extended schedule on Saturday.

"While we are sorry that passengers and customers were impacted by the closure of the airport on Friday, our performance in safely accommodating over 250,000 passengers on Saturday shows that the correct decisions were taken at the right time. While some commentators spread ill-informed misinformation, we will focus on serving our passengers.”