LIVE: Travel chaos for thousands of Irish passengers as Heathrow Airport is closed
Dozens of flights to and from Ireland impacted as planes are diverted following huge fire
Travel arrangements for thousands of passengers who are due to fly to and from Ireland this Friday have been impacted by the closure of Heathrow Airport - the busiest airport in Europe.
The airport, in west London, has confirmed it will remain closed for the day after a fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power, disrupting flight schedules around the world.
Around 70 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze and around 150 people were evacuated from nearby buildings and thousands of properties were without power.
The daa, says a total of 34 flights were scheduled between Dublin and Heathrow this Friday - 17 in each direction while a smaller number of flights were scheduled to and from other Irish Airports, including Cork and Shannon.
Around 20 services from Belfast City Airport and City of Derry Airport are also impacted by the closure.
A spokesperson for Shannon Airport in County Clare has confirmed that six flights were diverted there early this Friday morning following the closure.
"We are closely monitoring the situation at Heathrow Airport and are providing support by accommodating diverted flights as needed and our team is on-site to assist with the additional passengers,” they said.
As of 7.20am, Shannon Airport had facilitated diverted flights originally scheduled to land at Heathrow, including flights from Toronto, Atlanta, Bridgetown Barbados, Boston, Orlando and Newark.
"The first of these flights landed safely at 04:26am this morning," said the spokesperson.
Any passengers who were due to travel to or from Heathrow are being advised to liaise with their airline.