Britain’s Heathrow Airport announced on Friday that it began the reopening process after stopping the power supply due to a fire, which led to the closure of Europe’s busiest airport for the whole day, trapping thousands of passengers.

Heathrow, the fifth busiest airport in the world, was forced to close after a huge fire that destroyed a substation near the airport on Thursday night.

“Our teams have worked uninterruptedly from the time of the incident to ensure a quick restoration. Now we can safely start the flights again, prioritizing the repatriation and movement of aircraft, “the airport said in a statement to X.

“We hope to work completely tomorrow and will provide further information soon. Our priority remains the safety of passengers and airport workers. We apologize for the suffering caused by the incident. “

British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle told reporters on Friday that the situation at Heathrow Airport was “unprecedented” and that he had not seen that size closure for many years.

The interruption not only caused travelers’ discomfort but also caused rage in airlines who were surprised at how such a critical infrastructure failed to prevent the problem.

The airline industry is now facing the prospect of a financial loss that could reach tens of millions of pounds, with controversy over who will be borne by the cost.

“One would expect that they would have an important backup energy system,” a European airline official told Reuters.

Police said, while there is no indication of suspicious energy, they are open to the possibility of sabotage for the causes of the causes, the anti -terrorism service has taken over the potential and the criticality of the infrastructure.

Aviation experts said that the last time European airports faced such a major upheaval was during Iceland’s volcanic ash in 2010, when about 100,000 flights were canceled.