A wildfire near Heathrow Airport closed one of its runways during the height of the summer holiday travel.
One runway was closed and flights were affected at the UK’s busiest airport today after a grass fire.
The fire, believed to have been within the safety perimeter, grounded some flights and caused delays and cancellations.
Firefighters were alerted shortly after 5.30pm, and found the flames burning through around one hectare of grassland.
The closure of the Southern Runway S7L left the travel hub with only one runway, forcing some flights to divert to other airports.
Heathrow Airport said: ‘Earlier today, our teams acted quickly to safely resolve a small grass fire adjacent to the Southern Runway. Thanks to their swift response, both runways are now fully operational.
‘A huge thank you to everyone involved. We apologize for any disruption and thank passengers for their patience and understanding. We wish everyone a safe onward journey.’
While the second runway has since reopened, the incident is having a knock-on effect on later flights, with several listed as cancelled.
British Airways flights to Marseille, Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Nice, Munich, Lisbon and Milan appear as cancelled on Flightradar24.
London Fire Brigade said: ‘London Fire Brigade was called to reports of a fire on an area of grass near a runway at Heathrow Airport.
‘Around one hectare of grassland was destroyed by the fire. Crews from the Brigade were supported by the airport’s fire service as they worked to bring the incident under control.
‘The Brigade was first called about the incident at 1737, and crews had the fire under control by 1807. Firefighters from Heathrow, Hayes and Feltham fire stations attended the scene.’
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Flight disruption can force airlines to cancel services if aircraft and crew are in the wrong places, and moving them would exceed permitted flight times for pilots.
What are your rights for compensation if a flight is delayed or cancelled?
If the disruption is considered to be caused by an extraordinary circumstance, passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation.
But here is a roundup of how it generally works during other kind of disruption.
Flight delay
You might be entitled to compensation if your delayed flight was leaving from the UK, regardless of which airline it was.
If the delay is long enough, the airline has to provide you with food and drink, access to phone calls and emails (like mobile minutes) and accommodation if the delay lasts overnight.
For a short-haul flight of less than 932 miles (1,500km) the delay has to be two hours to trigger support from the airline. For long-haul flights of more than 2,174 miles (3,500km), the delay has to be four hours.
If the flight is delayed for more than five hours, you don’t have to take it and you are usually entitled to a full refund for the flight.
Flight cancellation
If the flight is cancelled, you have a legal right to either a full refund for the flight and other flights, or a replacement flight to get to your destination.
You also have a legal right to help with costs if the cancellation delays you for over two hours, and compensation.
The amount of compensation depends when the flight was cancelled, the distance of the flight and the departure and arrival times of the replacement flight.
If you have to claim compensation or costs from the airline, keep hold of all receipts and contact the airline.
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