Cargo operations are up and running at Heathrow Airport following the power outage that resulted in the grounding of all flights and shutdown of operations on Friday.
There was no specific mention of cargo in an update from Heathrow on its website, an omission which didn’t go unnoticed by BIFA on Friday, with the organisation stressing that the importance of cargo shouldn’t be overlooked.
However, Heathrow’s 24 March update stated: «Heathrow is open and fully operational. Teams across the airport continue to do everything they can to support passengers impacted by Friday’s outage at an off-airport power substation.
«Passengers travelling today should check with their airline for the latest information regarding their flight.”
IAG Cargo said in an operational update on 23 March: «Following the power outage in the London Heathrow area on 21 March 2025, we are pleased to confirm that operations at London Heathrow have now returned to normal.»
Virgin Atlantic Cargo said its «operation has now fully stabilised following the closure of Heathrow Airport».
«We have been operating our full flight schedule since 23 March. Our teams have been working hard to prioritise the rebooking of shipments that were unfortunately impacted by the airport closure,» the airline said.
Virgin told cargo customers to view Virgin Atlantic Cargo Track and Trace for shipment updates.
However, Haissam Badr, National Freight Manager at international logistics provider Aramex UK, has warned that the recent closure of Heathrow Airport could cause «a significant backlog».
“With flights grounded for the entire day on Friday, cargo operators have inevitably been scrambling to re-route shipments to alternative airports, but capacity constraints mean delays are inevitable. Unfortunately, any disruption at Heathrow is going to have a domino effect, particularly for industries dependent on just-in-time deliveries.»
James Golding, head of cargo and airline partnerships at Heathrow, announced that cargo activity is back to normal in a LinkedIn post on 23 March.
He said: ”Friday was a challenging day for Heathrow and many members of our local community, and certainly one of the busiest I, my team and our colleagues across the business have had in a while.
“Thanks to all of our airlines, airport partners and supply chain colleagues for working with us tirelessly to recover our operation so smoothly by Saturday morning following the power supply issue.
«This allowed our passengers to travel and cargo customers to receive their products with minimal delay”…
