A grass fire near Heathrow Airport’s southern runway caused flight disruption after the strip was temporarily closed while emergency crews tackled the blaze.
The incident happened on Thursday, August 6, with aircraft held in the air and on the ground as Heathrow switched to single-runway operations.
London Fire Brigade said it was called to reports of a fire on grass beside the runway at 5.37pm. Around one hectare of grassland was destroyed before the blaze was brought under control at 6.07pm.
Firefighters from Heathrow, Hayes and Feltham stations attended alongside the airport’s own fire service.
At least 18 inbound flights were diverted during the closure, according to Aviation News UK. Reports indicated that aircraft were sent to alternative airports including Stansted, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Luton and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
Heathrow said its teams had acted quickly to deal with what it described as a small grass fire adjacent to the southern runway. Both runways were later declared fully operational.
The airport apologised for the disruption and thanked passengers for their patience as services returned to normal.
