A body representing more than 90 airlines using Heathrow Airport has said there could be a case for legal action if a settlement is not reached over costs incurred by the airport’s Friday closure.

Flight operations at Europe’s biggest airport were thrown into turmoil on Friday, 21 March, as a giant blaze ripped through an electric substation near Heathrow, forcing the airport to close for more than 15 hours.

Over 1,300 flights were disrupted by the fire, ruining the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers due to fly.

Despite initially telling passengers the airport would be closed all day, Heathrow announced later that some long-haul flights would resume in the evening.

The airport was fully operational the next day, the closure had a huge knock-on effect and at least 100 of the 600 flights which would typically have been expected on Saturday were cancelled.

Nigel Wicking, the chief executive of Heathrow Airline Operators’ Committee (AOC), which represents more than 90 airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said there could be a case for legal action over costs incurred when the airport closed if not settled adequately.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Wicking said that he hoped an agreement over the costs from the closure could be “amicably settled at some point in time”.

However, he admitted that “if we don’t get good enough recourse and repayment in terms of the costs, then yes, there might be a case for legal action”.

“I would hope not. But in some of these situations that’s the only course once you’ve gone through everything else”, he added.

Simon Calder, travel correspondent at The Independent, estimates the cost to airlines to amount to £100m in lost revenue and passenger care expenses.

Heathrow and the many businesses linked to the airport would have also lost millions in the shutdown of operations.

Mr Wicking also called for an independent investigation of what happened and why recovery took so long.

“Airlines have a regulatory duty to take care of their passengers,” he said. “But in this particular case, we do feel that it was another party that caused the situation.”

The chief executive of AOC also criticised Heathrow’s communication amid the chaos.

He said it was “appalling” that airlines had to wait until midnight on Friday to confirm Terminal 2 would open on Saturday.

The situation was “not justifiable given the amount of money that has been spent on Heathrow over the years and the fact that it is the most expensive airport in the world”.

A Heathrow spokesperson told The Independent: “This was an unprecedented issue which began with a fire at an off-airport substation, in less than 24 hours the entire airport was rebooted from a standing start and we delivered a full schedule from Saturday onwards.

“There are two reviews into the systems and response both at Heathrow and with the wider grid infrastructure. We will support these and lessons will be learned where needed.

“Every penny we invest in our airport infrastructure is approved by airlines and our regulator. On a project-by-project basis, they oversee and influence how we build and maintain Heathrow.”

The Independent has contacted Heathrow AOC for further comment.

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