Harris describes ‘travel chaos’ amid Heathrow disruption
By Rebecca Black, PA
The Tánaiste has described a day of “travel chaos” following major disruption at Heathrow Airport.
More than 1,000 flights to and from the major London airport have been cancelled on Friday, with hundreds of thousands of engers affected in the disruption linked to a fire at a nearby electrical substation.
These include 34 flights to and from Dublin Airport, 14 at Belfast City Airport and six at City of Derry Airport.
Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland has facilitated six diverted flights which had originally been scheduled to land at Heathrow, involving flights from Toronto, Atlanta, Bridgetown Barbados, Boston, Orlando and Newark.
Speaking to media on Friday, Tánaiste Simon Harris paid tribute to those involved in resolving the situation after “travel chaos”.
“I want to pay tribute to those who have acted so swiftly to get the airport back open and get flights back up and running,” he said.
“I know they are hoping for normal operations tomorrow. Obviously the route between Dublin and Heathrow is the second busiest route in Europe and therefore that caused a significant challenge today for commuters to and from Dublin in relation to Heathrow.
“But it does seem that everything that could have been done to try and swiftly get things back on track has happened and I’m grateful to all of those involved in making that happen.”
Dublin Airport said in a statement that further disruption to flights between Dublin Airport and Heathrow over the coming days is possible.
“We continue to monitor developments at Heathrow and remain in close consultation with affected airlines regarding when flights between Dublin Airport and Heathrow may recommence,” it said.
City of Derry Airport said on Friday evening: “We are awaiting confirmation of our flight operation to London Heathrow tomorrow.
“We ask engers to continue to check with their airline regarding their flight status before coming to the airport. All other routes from City of Derry Airport to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool continue to operate as usual.”
