Heathrow Airport closed: What are your rights if your flight has been cancelled?

A huge fire close to Heathrow has meant one of the busiest airports in the UK is now set to be closed for the next 24 hours.

Anyone who has a flight booked from the airport has been told to not travel to Heathrow with even more travellers caught in traffic in west London this morning.

The airport will remain closed all day on Friday and passengers have been warned not to travel to the terminals ‘under any circumstances’ until power is restored.

 Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the Heathrow Airport closure

A Heathrow spokesperson said: ‘Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.

‘To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on March 21, 2025.’

Online flight tracking service FlightRadar24 said the closure would affect at least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow.

Passengers have also been warned to brace for disruption through the weekend.

Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport, with more than 83.9 million passengers travelling through its terminals in 2024.

But what are your rights if you had a flight booked and what should you do?

What are my rights if my flight is cancelled?

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, UK and EU airlines must look after you if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

This includes everything from meals and accommodation to an alternative flight if necessary.

Citizen’s Advice says that airlines should also give impacted passengers access to phone calls and emails and, if they offer you a play to stay, organise the journeys between the hotel and the airport.

Sometimes, the airline will cover this by handing you vouchers at the airport. When in doubt, keep any receipts for expenses and claim them back afterwards from the airliner.

But an airliner will only cough up money for ‘reasonable’ expenses. The hotel minibar or penthouse suites likely can’t be expensed.

If you didn’t book with a UK or EU airline, you’ll need to check their terms and conditions. Though, for the most part, airlines should provide meals and accommodation as appropriate.

When am I eligible for this support?

Whether you’re eligible for the above depends on the distance of your flight and how long you have waited:

• For short-haul (up to 1,500km over two hours or less) you must have been waiting for two hours or more.
• For medium-haul (between 1,500km and 3,500km over two to four hours) it’s three hours or more.
• For long-haul (more than 3,500km over four hours or more) it’s four hours or more.

If my flight is cancelled, can I get a refund?

If your flight is covered by UK law, you can choose between either getting your cancelled flight refunded or being booked on an alternative route.

Any part of your ticket you haven’t used is eligible for a refund. So, if you were on a return flight to Heathrow and the outbound leg was cancelled, you can get that part of the journey refunded.

You’ll typically get your money back within a week.

But not everyone is up for being stuck mid-layover. If you still want to travel, your airline must find a way to get you to your destination.

This can include, say, if another airliner is flying to where you need to go soon or if there’s another form of transport you can take. All at no extra cost.

I booked a package holiday – what are my rights?

Check if the company you booked with is a member of ABTA, a trade association for tour operators and travel agents.

It has a guide here on what you can do if your flight has been cancelled.

Can I get any extra compensation?

All flights grinding it a halt at an airport isn’t exactly an everyday thing. This is what the law calls ‘extraordinary circumstances’.

This can include a fire – as is the case today – or bad weather, bird strikes or defects with a plane.

But none of these entitles impacted passengers to extra compensation, consumer watchdog Which? says. They’re largely considered outside the airline’s control.

In other circumstances, however, it’s a different story. You have several rights under the law if your journey is impacted by staff shortages, airline staff walkouts or if your flight was delayed because bad weather delayed a previous flight.

What you’re entitled to depends on the cause of the cancellation and how much notice the airline gave you.

This can range from £220 for short-haul flights, £350 for mid-haul and £520 for long-haul.

What about unused accommodation?

There might be things you do end up paying for. But you might be able to claim for them afterwards.

This can include unused accommodation, where you’ll need to contact your credit card provider or a travel insurance firm.

As much as 94% of travel insurance policies travel abandonment, only 30% include wider travel disruption, according to analysts Defaqto.

Travel insurance doesn’t cover any loss of earnings if the delayed or cancelled flight means you can’t work.

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