Ryanair has launched a series of “rescue flights” amid the closure of London Heathrow Airport. The budget carrier said in a post on X on Friday morning that the flights will go on sale from 9.30am.

It comes after Heathrow bosses confirmed the airport would close until 11.59pm today (March 21) following a “significant power outage” due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation. A Heathrow spokesperson said earlier: “Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.

“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025. We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.

“We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”

In its social media post, Ryanair said: “RYANAIR LAUNCHES 8 RESCUE FLIGHTS FOR PASSENGERS AFFECTED BY HEATHROW CLOSURE. Friday: 2 x Dublin to Stansted 2 x Stansted to Dublin Saturday: 2 x Dublin to Stansted 2 x Stansted to Dublin Available from 9.30AM”.