A fire at an electrical substation serving Heathrow has resulted in the complete shutdown of the airport, causing the cancellation of over 1,000 flights and threatening major disruption to UK air freight.
Heathrow, the fourth-busiest airport in the world according to OAG, is also a major hub for the movement of goods in and out of the country.
Marco Forgione, the director general of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, said that the disruption could have “far-reaching impacts”, particularly if it continues for several days, as Heathrow is the “UK’s largest freight hub by value”.
“Essential goods due to be delivered and leave will now face days of disruption, and because it’s air freight a lot of the goods are time sensitive. Even once flights recommence planes, crew and products will all be in the wrong place.”
Many of the “goods, products and components” that transit through Heathrow are “time-critical”, Forgione emphasised, and the disruption “will further fracture already vulnerable global supply chains”.
‘Anti-fragile’
The risks associated with the current structure of supply chains mean there is a need to “move away from the highly efficient but hugely fragile supply chain system” to more “resilient, anti-fragile supply chains”, Forgione explained.
The closure of Heathrow is “just another serious indicator” of the need for such reforms, he said.
“The warnings have been there for years now, since before Covid. The vulnerability of the global economy has been clear, including the impact of the weather reducing capacity through the Panama Canal, disruption caused by war, weaponisation of trade through the Red Sea, human error, infrastructure failures, strikes, and the deliberate unpicking of the traditional, multilateral global administrative system.
“In isolation these would cause disruption. Coming as they have consecutively, and sometimes concurrently, proves that the way we've organised trade and manufacturing has to be fundamentally redesigned.”
The move to a more resilient system will require investment and time, Forgione noted. The alternative, he said, was further “uncertainty and instability”.
Travel journalist Simon Calder, meanwhile, echoed Forgione’s remarks, saying the disruption “shows up once again how little slack there is in the system”.
"This just points out the sheer lack of resilience. The one reason that there are people in Amsterdam, in Lyon in southern France, in Iceland right now is because there isn't enough room in south-east England to divert those planes.”
‘Unprecedented’
What caused the fire is not yet known.
Energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told the BBC that “we don't know the cause of this fire”, adding that it is “obviously an unprecedented event”.
In remarks since then to LBC, he said there is “no suggestion that there is foul play” or evidence of sabotage at this stage.
Gatwick Airport, meanwhile, has said that it will try to accept some of the flights originally destined for Heathrow but that it is already at capacity. Birmingham Airport has also reassured its customers that its acceptance of diverted flights will not cause delays.
