Fire at Heathrow airport leads to runway closure and travel delays

A runway at Heathrow reportedly has been closed due to a grass fire, with reports that flights have been delayed.

A photograph shared on social media showed smoke rising into the sky, seen from a passenger terminal.

The blaze was a grass area fire which has led the runway to be “temporarily closed”, according to a Heathrow Runways account.

Departures were suspended for a while due to the suspected fire and “high delays” were expected, Aviation News UK reported.

Flight Core said aircraft were holding. Another account said the fire was out.

GD Travel News said Heathrow was using the north runway for both arrivals and departures, while the grass area by the south runway was dampened down to make safe and emergency vehicles were cleared.

The Independent has asked airport chiefs to comment.

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