Heathrow delays after runway lighting hit by 'technical issue'

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Thousands of passengers booked to travel to, from and through Heathrow Airport face a day of delays and disruption.

A problem with the lighting system for the airport’s two runways was identified in the early hours of Wednesday morning. While a solution was devised, many long-haul flights departing for Heathrow from airports around the world were held on the ground.

Some heavy delays have built up, with knock-on impacts on later departures from the airport.

British Airways has delays of two hours or more on arrivals from Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chennai, Cairo, Hyderabad, Los Angeles, Montreal, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul and Toronto, as well as three New York JFK flights.

BA operates more than half the flights to and from Heathrow. A spokesperson for the airline said: “Contingency plans were quickly activated and we plan to operate our full schedule today, albeit with some delays.

“We’re asking customers that are due to travel with us today to continue to monitor ba.com for any updates to their flight.”

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Our engineering teams are investigating a technical issue with the lighting system for the airport’s runways. We have activated our contingency plans and both runways are currently open and operational.

Because of the problems with arriving flights, many long-haul departures are delayed because aircraft are out of position.

British Airways is forecasting delays of an hour or more on flights later today to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Moscow, New York, Riyadh and San Francisco.

The Heathrow spokesperson warned there could be further delays: “We anticipate there will be some delays at the airport throughout this morning. For the latest information, passengers should check their flight status with their airlines before travelling to the airport.

"We apologise for any impact this might have on our passengers.”

There are also problems getting to and from the airport by rail.

Heathrow Express and Transport for London trains between the airport and central London are heavily disrupted because of Network Rail carrying out “urgent repairs to the track between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington”.

Passengers are being warned: “Trains may be cancelled, delayed or amended to not call at all stations.

“Disruption is expected to continue until approximately 12 noon.”

Elsewhere, passengers on Ryanair travelling on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning must check in by 5pm in order to avoid an airport fee of £55. The website of Europe’s biggest budget airline will be closed for 12 hours from 5am. No bookings or amendments will be possible during that time.