London Heathrow’s CEO on Saturday defended the way Europe’s largest airport handled the havoc caused by a blaze at an electrical substation that knock out power to the facility and disrupted hundreds of flights.
Heathrow has come under fiery criticism from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which charged that the travel mayhem stemmed from a “clear planning failure” from the airport’s side.
“I’m proud of what the people did to get us out of the situation,” Heathrow chief executive Thomas Woldbye told the BBC on Saturday.
Woldbye stressed that the fire took place “outside the airport, and we had to deal with the consequences.”
“I don’t know an airport that has back-up supply that can switch on in minutes to the magnitude of what we experienced yesterday. The same would happen in other airports,” he said.
Europe’s busiest airport was forced to a standstill on Friday following a fire that broke out the evening prior at a nearby electric station, causing a power outage at Heathrow. The airport was returning to normal operation on Saturday, but passengers continued to face delays and cancellations, according to media reports.
More than 1,000 flights were cancelled due to the airport’s shutdown, which affected tens of thousands of travellers in one of the largest disruptions to air travel in recent years.
“This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travelers and airlines,” IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh said in a statement on Friday. He asked how the airport could be “totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative.”
Asked by the BBC if he thought he should keep his post at the airport’s helm, Woldbye said he would “let others judge that if they think that’s an issue.”
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