Air India Flights Among 1,351 Affected By Fire In London, Airport Shutdown

An estimated 1,351 flights, including those operated by Air India, were cancelled or diverted Friday after London's Heathrow airport shut down for the day. This was after a fire at an electrical substation in the western part of the city triggered a widespread power outage.

Apart from chaos at Heathrow - one of the busiest airports in the world and largest of five serving London and nearby areas - more than 16,000 homes in the UK capital lost power.

When the airport shut down, as many as 120 flights were in the air over it, either having just taken off or in the process of landing. Among the flights expected to land today was Air India's AI129 service from Mumbai and the AI161 from Delhi.

The former will return to Mumbai and the latter has been diverted to Frankfurt in Germany, the Indian carrier said in a statement. "All our remaining flights to and from London Heathrow, including AI111 (another Delhi-London service) have been cancelled for 21 March. We will update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information," it said.

Flights to and from Gatwick, however, will be unaffected, Air India said.

Gatwick is about 60km southeast of Heathrow.

Apart from Air India, numerous other airlines have announced cancellations and/or diversions, with Heathrow authorities also warning of "significant disruptions over the coming days".

British Airways has advised passengers not to travel to Heathrow till further notice.