Sky Harbor affected by London Heathrow Airport closure: Here's what to know

Sky Harbor affected by Heathrow Airport closure

Phoenix may be thousands of miles away from London, but that doesn't mean Sky Harbor is not affected by the closure of Heathrow Airport due to a fire that caused a major outage.

PHOENIX - The closure of London Heathrow Airport on Friday (UK time) is having an impact on flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

What happened at Heathrow?

The backstory:

The London airport was closed all day on March 21 due to a fire that caused a major power outage.

The fire broke out at a power station about 2 miles from the airport, according to fire officials in the area. It was brought under control seven hours after it first erupted.

Officials with Heathrow said that the fire had given them no choice but to close the airport for the day. They are also advising travelers to not head to the airport, and contact their airline for more information.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said, and the impact was likely to last several days as passengers try to reschedule their travel.

Why is the closure affecting international travel?

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel.

By the numbers:

The airport had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% from the same period last year. January was also the 11th month in a row that it averaged over 200,000 passengers a day, with the airport citing trans-Atlantic travel as a key contributor.

Why is Heathrow's closure affecting flights at Sky Harbor?

While Sky Harbor handles many domestic flights, it also handles a number of flights to and from international destinations.

Local perspective:

According to Sky Harbor Airport's website, there are direct flights from the airport to various destinations in Mexico, Canada, and Europe. Heathrow is one of the airports listed.

The website also states that flights between Heathrow and Sky Harbor are operated by American Airlines and British Airways.

Which flights are affected?

Dig deeper:

Per Sky Harbor's website, British Airways flight 289, which was originally scheduled to land in Phoenix at 6:25 p.m., has been cancelled. However, BA Flight 288 is still shown as on time as of 8:00 a.m. on March 21.

Sky Harbor's website did not show any American Airlines flights operating directly from Sky Harbor to London on March 21. A search on AA's website shows the airline will resume direct flights between Sky Harbor and Heathrow on March 29.

It should be noted that Heathrow's closure will impact more than travelers on BA 288 and 289, as there are travelers from Sky Harbor to Heathrow, and vice versa, who will take connecting flights in other cities to get to Phoenix or London.