Heathrow Airport has warned of passenger disruption this morning as road access to two of its terminals has been blocked by flooding.
The airport which handled nearly 85 million passengers last year, issued an urgent warning to travellers on Saturday morning warning vehicles would not be able to access Terminals 2 and 3.
Water has inundated the central terminal area, forcing authorities to shut multiple roads.
The airport has apologised for the disruption and said teams are attempting to resolve the situation urgently.
In a statement, the airport said flooding in the central terminal area had caused ongoing road closures.
“Passengers travelling to or from either of these terminals today must not travel by road,” it said.
The hub added travellers are “strongly advised to use Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line and Piccadilly Line rail services where possible.”
For those requiring car access, the airport instructed: “Any passengers that must travel by car must use Park and Ride, head to Terminals 4 or 5 and take free rail services from there, or change at local rail stations. Please allow extra time for your journey.”
The statement concluded: “Our teams are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, we apologise for any disruption caused.”
The flooding affects dozens of airlines operating from the two terminals, including major carriers such as Virgin Atlantic and British Airways at Terminal 3, alongside Star Alliance members including Lufthansa, United Airlines and Singapore Airlines at Terminal 2.
American Airlines, Delta, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Qantas passengers are also impacted through Terminal 3 operations.
The disruption has struck during the school summer holidays, when hundreds of thousands of travellers pass through the airport at peak times.
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The incident follows earlier disruption this week when Elizabeth Line services to the airport faced severe problems after a tunnel was closed for safety reasons on Monday, with services between Hayes & Harlington and Terminals 4 and 5 suspended throughout the morning.
The disruption comes amid challenging times for the airport, which has recently lost two significant rankings in global aviation.
Istanbul airport overtook Heathrow in July as Europe’s busiest hub, with the Turkish facility handling 8.15 million passengers compared to Heathrow’s 7.86 million during the same month.
Separately, South Korea’s Incheon Airport surpassed Heathrow as the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic, serving 38.4 million international passengers in the first half of this year against Heathrow’s 37.8 million, according to preliminary data from the Airports Council International.
The airport is using these developments to strengthen its case for expansion, currently operating its two runways at near-full capacity whilst seeking Government approval for a third runway that would allow it to handle 150 million passengers annually.
In a statement, Heathrow said: “The case for expansion has never been clearer, as Heathrow was overtaken in July by Istanbul airport as the busiest hub in Europe.
“Our plans will ensure the country gets the infrastructure it needs to stay competitive and will deliver all-important economic growth.”
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