The chancellor has defended a decision to delay an expansion at Gatwick as she was questioned in the wake of the sudden closure of Heathrow airport - despite admitting the fire showed the need for increased capacity and resilience.
A fire at a nearby substation late on Thursday night triggered a "significant power outage", leading to more than 1,000 flights being cancelled and disrupting the plans of about 200,000 people.
Speaking on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Rachel Reeves was asked how embarrassing the closure was, and if the government regrets putting off a final decision on expanding an alternate airport, Gatwick, by six months.
"We've given an in principle decision to expand Gatwick, as well as supporting expansion, a third runway, at Heathrow," she said. She added that it was "the first time we've had an in principle decision for Gatwick".
"We do need to expand airport capacity in the UK," she continued.
"And I think what we've seen in the last couple of days shows how important that is, but also how important it is to build the resilience in our UK critical infrastructure, including our hub airport, Heathrow."
Pushed by Phillips on the fact a final decision on Gatwick has been pushed back, the chancellor insisted the government was "not kicking this into the long grass".
See Reeves being quizzed by Trevor in full here
A spokesperson said the west London airport was "open and fully operational" on Sunday, with 1,300 flights expected to take off and land, but warned travellers to still check with their airline.
British Airways said it expected to fly a "near-full schedule" on Sunday and advised customers to head to the airport unless told otherwise.
Cancellations and delays
The repercussions were still being felt on Saturday, with flight boards regularly showing cancellations and delays despite extra staff being drafted in and more services added.
However, the airport said "almost all passengers [waited] less than five minutes for security".
Police have said the cause of the fire is believed to be non-suspicious - but the government has ordered an urgent investigation.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband instructed the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to look into the incident "so that it's prevented from ever happening again".
Initial findings are expected within six weeks.
Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye welcomed the investigation and said he would support "every effort to understand the causes and impacts".
"We are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to ensure a thorough investigation to help strengthen the airport's future resilience," he said.
Mr Woldbye has apologised for the disruption, describing it "as big as it gets for our airport" and admitting "we cannot guard ourselves 100%".
He stressed the airport wouldn't have shut unless there were "severe safety concerns".
The airport also announced an internal review led by Ruth Kelly, former transport secretary and an independent member of Heathrow's board.
Chairman Lord Paul Deighton said: "Closing the airport yesterday had significant impacts for our passengers, our customers, our colleagues and the country.
"Heathrow regrets the disruption this caused. We hope that all those affected understand that the decision was made in order to prioritise the safety of our passengers and colleagues.
"We are committed to finding any potential learnings from this unprecedented incident."
Race to make Arctic husky challenge
Passengers have continued to share their frustrations over delays and cancellations that are expected to linger until at least the end of the weekend.
Ray had been going to see family in Algeria and had travelled down from Manchester on a train at 7am. She hadn't checked the news, so arrived in London unaware of the problem.
"I noticed the Underground was disrupted, so I took a taxi there," she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.
"As I was in the taxi, I found out the news that Heathrow was closed, so I had to stop the taxi driver in the middle of the trip. I wasn't sure what to do."
She called her dad, who was in the process of driving for four hours to Algiers airport to pick her up.
Ray said she was looking for another way to get to Algeria via mainland Europe but the flights were "very, very expensive".
Another passenger, John Climpson, was meant to fly to Sweden on Friday to compete in a husky sledding challenge in the Arctic Circle.
His flight was cancelled, meaning he had to wait for a flight to Stockholm from Heathrow late on Saturday, stay overnight and then fly to Kiruna, the most northern city in Sweden, on Sunday morning.
He said he would arrive two days late "and we are going to have to go straight into [the] 240km husky sledding challenge immediately, otherwise we won't make it in time".
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander warned people flying over the next few days that "some disruption" is expected to continue and urged them to check with their airline.
British Airways said 90% of its scheduled flights went ahead on Saturday.
In a statement on X, it said "the vast majority of our customers were able to get to where they needed to be despite the very challenging circumstances going into the start of the day".
Read more:
Heathrow shutdown 'embarrassing at best'
'Nightmare' Heathrow shutdown in numbers
Delayed or cancelled? What are your rights?
Virgin Atlantic said on Saturday evening that its operation had "fully stabilised" after a "significant impact" to its schedule.
"We are still working to ensure all those impacted can complete their journeys as quickly as possible and we expect to run our full flying schedule on Sunday 23 March," it added.
? Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app ?
A National Grid spokesperson said power had now been restored to all affected customers.
They added: "We are deeply sorry for the disruption caused and are continuing to work closely with the government, Heathrow and the police to understand the cause of the incident."
The disruption began on Thursday night when fire crews were called to a substation blaze in Hayes, about a mile and a half north of Heathrow.
London Fire Brigade deputy commissioner Jonathan Smith said the fire involved a transformer - a key part of the substation - with 25,000 litres of cooling oil "fully alight".
Around 70 firefighters and 10 engines worked to extinguish the fire and a cordon was set up.
In all, 67,000 households were left without power but all supplies were restored by 2pm on Friday.
(c) Sky News 2025: Chancellor says Heathrow shutdown shows need for increased resilience in UK critical infrastruct
