UPDATE: Heathrow Airport Restarting Some Flights

London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) will restart some long-haul flights on Friday night after an electrical fire Thursday forced a shutdown. Initial reports had the airport remaining closed until midnight tonight.

British Airways will fly eight of its long-haul scheduled flights on Friday night to Johannesburg, Singapore, Riyadh, Cape Town, Sydney via Singapore, and Rio de Janeiro via Buenos Aires, will be able to go to the airport, all other passengers will still be turned away. 

It is expected that the impact of the closure could last into the next few days.

Earlier story:

More than 1,300 flights have been affected by the sudden closure of London Heathrow Airport today.

The shutdown is the result of a fire at an electrical substation near the airport, which caused a power outage affecting both the airport’s primary and backup power.

The airport will be closed until midnight. Passengers are being urged to avoid travelling to Heathrow and to contact their airline if they are scheduled to fly today.

An early estimate suggested about 150,000 passengers will be affected, but that number is expected to increase.

Some 120 aircraft were already in the air en route to LHR when the closure was announced. Some returned to their point of origin while others were diverted to various airports.

Heathrow says it will provide an update when it has more information.