Major airlines are waiving fare changes for travelers affected by Friday’s outage at London Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world.
Delta, American and United issued travel waivers on their respective websites after a large fire at an electrical substation near Heathrow created a “significant power outage” across the entire airport. The airport was closed for hours on Friday, but officials later announced it would reopen.
“Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery. We’re pleased to say we’re now safely able to begin some flights later today. Our first flights will be repatriation flights and relocating aircraft,” a spokesperson for the airport later said.
Prior to the fire, the airport was expecting 291,000 passengers on a total of 1,351 flights on Friday, according to Reuters.
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American Airlines:
American is waiving certain change fees for any flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday. Any American Airlines passengers will be able to rebook their flight for free if they bought their ticket by March 20 and were scheduled to travel between March 21 and March 22. Passengers will be able to rebook between March 22 and March 26. Their rescheduled travel must be within one year of the original ticket purchase date.
Their destination and fare class need to be the same, or they will have to pay the difference.
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Delta Air Lines
The carrier is waiving fees for passengers who rebook travel on or before March 26 in the same cabin of service as originally booked. Passengers will have to pay the difference if they don’t stick with the original booking itinerary.
If passengers can’t be rescheduled within these guidelines, they can cancel their flight, and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for one year when they first purchased their ticket, the airline said.
JetBlue Airlines
The carrier warned passengers in a statement on its website that all of its flights entering and departing from Heathrow have been canceled and that “additional flights may be scheduled once the airport reopens to accommodate affected passengers.”
FOX Business reached out to JetBlue to confirm if the airline is offering a travel waiver.
United Airlines
The carrier is letting passengers reschedule their trip for free, though their United flight needs to depart between March 20 and March 28. Tickets need to be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked or one of the following: Amsterdam, Netherlands; Brussels, Belgium; Paris, France or Edinburgh, Great Britain.
Virgin Atlantic
The carrier told passengers that it’s offering “flexible options” to impacted passengers. They can be rebooked onto the next available flight, reschedule their trip for a later date, or change their destination within the carrier’s direct network. Passengers are also eligible for a refund if they want to cancel their trip.
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