Maison Métier and The Barnett Join World of Hyatt Loyalty Program

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Maison Métier and The Barnett Join World of Hyatt Loyalty Program

2025-03-20 23:36 Last Updated At：23:50

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 20, 2025--

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) announced today that Maison Métier and The Barnett, two celebrated New Orleans properties located adjacent to one another and offering convenient access to the renowned French Quarter, have officially joined World of Hyatt loyalty program and respective Hyatt brands.

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Maison Métier, after a rebrand and refresh, is entering The Unbound Collection as part of Hyatt’s luxury group. Simultaneously, The Barnett, which has undergone extensive renovations and reimagining, has joined JdV by Hyatt, a brand that celebrates the joy of life and local community. Both properties, managed by New Orleans based HRI Hospitality, will maintain an independent spirit while now being connected to Hyatt’s world-class service and World of Hyatt benefits as part of the program.

“We’re thrilled to grow our presence in New Orleans, a city known for its rich culture and vibrant history,” said Katie Johnson, global brand leader, Hyatt Luxury & Collection Brands. “These two unique downtown properties embody the true spirit of New Orleans, offering guests memorable experiences steeped in local culture.”

Maison Métier, owned by Domain Companies, is housed in a historic 1908 building and evokes the charm of a Parisian-style guesthouse, maintaining its architectural heritage while incorporating contemporary design touches. With 67 lavish guestrooms and suites, this thoughtfully curated hotel balances its storied past with modern luxury, making it a distinctive destination. Embracing its architectural history, contemporary finishes, curated art and eclectic décor, Maison Métier is committed to heightening the guest experience with elevated amenities and a selection of refreshed culinary concepts. The salon-style bar, a local favorite, continues its partnership with Paris-based Quixotic Projects, offering guests a vibrant blend of culinary delights and inventive cocktails.

The Barnett, owned through a joint venture of Domain Companies and HRI Hospitality, is located in a former neighborhood institution – Barnett’s Furniture Store – has maintained its connection to New Orleans’ vibrant history. Situated among the city’s finest cultural touchpoints, the 234-room property offers guests a dynamic New Orleans experience, with musicality and culture at its core. In addition to thoughtful updates, the hotel’s culinary venues remain open and will soon receive new brand identities, including the former mainstay Italian restaurant, rooftop and pool bar, and music venue. Seaworthy restaurant remains under the same brand and culinary leadership.

Centrally located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, The Barnett and Maison Métier are within walking distance of iconic attractions such as The WWII Museum, Caesar’s Superdome and Bourbon Street. Their locations provide an ideal home base for exploring the city’s premier dining, galleries, museums, shopping and nightlife, offering a true immersion into the culture and vibrancy of New Orleans. With their adjacency, the two properties also offer guests seamless access to exclusive shared amenities.

“We’re excited to see Maison Métier and The Barnett join the Hyatt family, bringing a new level of recognition and global reach,” said Matt Schwartz, Co-CEO, The Domain Companies. “These hotels have long been a part of the fabric of New Orleans, and our partnership with Hyatt will allow continue honoring the community while elevating the guest experience.”

“We are extremely proud to bring Maison Métier and The Barnett into the World of Hyatt program,” said Michael Coolidge, Chief Investment & Development Officer of HRI Hospitality. “These two properties perfectly capture the essence of New Orleans, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our strategic partnership with Hyatt as we operate them under their global brand platform. This relationship allows us to elevate the guest experience while maintaining the local character and charm of these iconic hotels, with the added benefits of Hyatt’s loyalty and sales program.”

As part of the World of Hyatt loyalty program, members can earn points on stays to use toward free nights, dining, wellbeing experiences and more. World of Hyatt members can save up to 10% with Member Rate or 15% with Member Rate Advance Purchase with reservations made at least 7 days prior to their stay. To join World of Hyatt, please visit worldofhyatt.com or complete enrollment at time of reservation.

For additional details and reservations, visit www.thebarnett.com and www.maisonmetier.com. Follow The Barnett on Instagram and Facebook, as well as Maison Métier on Instagram and Facebook.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company guided by its purpose – to care for people so they can be their best. As of December 31, 2024, the Company's portfolio included more than 1,400 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 79 countries across six continents. The Company's offering includes brands in the Luxury Portfolio, including Park Hyatt ®, Alila ®, Miraval ®, Impression by Secrets, and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt ®; the Lifestyle Portfolio, including Andaz ®, Thompson Hotels ®, The Standard ®, Dream ® Hotels, The StandardX, Breathless Resorts & Spas ®, JdV by Hyatt ®, Bunkhouse ® Hotels, and Me and All Hotels; the Inclusive Collection, including Zoëtry ® Wellness & Spa Resorts, Hyatt Ziva ®, Hyatt Zilara ®, Secrets ® Resorts & Spas, Dreams ® Resorts & Spas, Hyatt Vivid Hotels & Resorts, Sunscape ® Resorts & Spas, and Alua Hotels & Resorts ®; the Classics Portfolio, including Grand Hyatt ®, Hyatt Regency ®, Destination by Hyatt ®, Hyatt Centric ®, Hyatt Vacation Club ®, and Hyatt ®; and the Essentials Portfolio, including Caption by Hyatt ®, Hyatt Place ®, Hyatt House ®, Hyatt Studios, and UrCove. Subsidiaries of the Company operate the World of Hyatt® loyalty program, ALG Vacations®, Mr & Mrs Smith, Unlimited Vacation Club®, Amstar® DMC destination management services, and Trisept Solutions® technology services. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

About JdV by Hyatt

A community for the spirited, the light-hearted, the young-at-heart, the JdV by Hyatt brand offers a collection of vibrant, independent hotels that are true reflections of the urban neighborhoods we call home. Embracing its namesake (joie de vivre), the JdV by Hyatt brand invites guests and locals alike to connect, live in the moment and celebrate the joy of life. Each hotel provides an experience that is inclusive in spirit and space, inviting all to make each stay yours truly. Follow @JDVHotels on Facebook, Instagram, and X for news and updates. For more information, please visit www.jdvbyhyatt.com.

About The Unbound Collection by Hyatt

More than a compilation of independent, one-of-a-kind hotels, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand is a thoughtful curation of stories worth collecting. Whether it’s a modern marvel, a historic gem or a revitalizing retreat, each property provides thought-provoking environments and experiences that inspire for guests seeking elevated yet unscripted service when they travel. For a full list of hotels in the collection, visit unboundcollection.hyatt.com. Follow @UnboundxHyatt on Facebook and Instagram and tag your photos with #UnboundxHyatt.

About The Domain Companies

New Orleans-based The Domain Companies is one of the nation's leading real estate development and investment companies specializing in sustainable, mixed-use development. Since its founding in 2004, Domain has been involved in over $2.5 billion of impactful, mixed-use real estate across various product types and markets. For more information, visit https://thedomaincos.com/.

About HRI Hospitality

With a 40-year legacy, HRI Hospitality (“HRIH“) has meticulously constructed a robust lodging and mixed-use platform under the seasoned leadership team's guidance. The company currently owns and manages a diverse portfolio in the nation’s premier lodging markets, actively engaging in development, acquisitions and third-party management to enhance their offerings. While maintaining an active development pipeline, HRI Hospitality is committed to "Elevating the Urban Experience" for guests. Managing a portfolio of branded and independent institutional quality hotels in key U.S. markets, the company is an approved operator for all major full- and focused-service brands. Leveraging deep sector expertise and a vast industry network, HRIH’s hotel management platform, HRI Lodging, emphasizes a balanced approach, incorporating People, Profit, and Revenues. With extensive third-party management expertise and an owner's perspective, HRI is adept at operating properties effectively, solidifying its position as an innovative leader in the hospitality industry. For more information, please visit http://hrihospitality.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “likely,” “will,” “would” and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a worsening of global economic conditions or low levels of economic growth; the rate and the pace of economic recovery following economic downturns; global supply chain constraints and interruptions, rising costs of construction-related labor and materials, and increases in costs due to inflation or other factors that may not be fully offset by increases in revenues in our business; risks affecting the luxury, resort, and all-inclusive lodging segments; levels of spending in business, leisure, and group segments, as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; limited visibility with respect to future bookings; loss of key personnel; domestic and international political and geo-political conditions, including political or civil unrest or changes in trade policy; hostilities, or fear of hostilities, including future terrorist attacks, that affect travel; travel-related accidents; natural or man-made disasters, weather and climate-related events, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, oil spills, nuclear incidents, and global outbreaks of pandemics or contagious diseases, or fear of such outbreaks; the pace and consistency of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-term effects of the pandemic, additional resurgence, or COVID-19 variants, including with respect to global and regional economic activity, travel limitations or bans, the demand for travel, transient and group business, and levels of consumer confidence; the ability of third-party owners, franchisees, or hospitality venture partners to successfully navigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, any additional resurgence, or COVID-19 variants or other pandemics, epidemics or other health crises; our ability to successfully achieve certain levels of operating profits at hotels that have performance tests or guarantees in favor of our third-party owners; the impact of hotel renovations and redevelopments; risks associated with our capital allocation plans, share repurchase program, and dividend payments, including a reduction in, or elimination or suspension of, repurchase activity or dividend payments; the seasonal and cyclical nature of the real estate and hospitality businesses; changes in distribution arrangements, such as through internet travel intermediaries; changes in the tastes and preferences of our customers; relationships with colleagues and labor unions and changes in labor laws; the financial condition of, and our relationships with, third-party property owners, franchisees, and hospitality venture partners; the possible inability of third-party owners, franchisees, or development partners to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; risks associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and our ability to successfully integrate completed acquisitions with existing operations, including with respect to our acquisition of Apple Leisure Group and Dream Hotel Group and the successful integration of each business; failure to successfully complete proposed transactions (including the failure to satisfy closing conditions or obtain required approvals); our ability to successfully execute on our strategy to expand our management and franchising business while at the same time reducing our real estate asset base within targeted timeframes and at expected values; declines in the value of our real estate assets; unforeseen terminations of our management or franchise agreements; changes in federal, state, local, or foreign tax law; increases in interest rates, wages, and other operating costs; foreign exchange rate fluctuations or currency restructurings; risks associated with the introduction of new brand concepts, including lack of acceptance of new brands or innovation; general volatility of the capital markets and our ability to access such markets; changes in the competitive environment in our industry, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry consolidation, and the markets where we operate; our ability to successfully grow the World of Hyatt loyalty program and Unlimited Vacation Club paid membership program; cyber incidents and information technology failures; outcomes of legal or administrative proceedings; and violations of regulations or laws related to our franchising business and licensing businesses and our international operations;;and other risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our annual report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which filings are available from the SEC. These factors are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by any of our forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

The Latest: Hundreds of thousands of passengers face flight cancellations as Heathrow closes

2025-03-21 23:58 Last Updated At：03-22 00:00

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of passengers faced flight cancellations at Europe's busiest travel hub after a fire knocked out power to London's Heathrow Airport, forcing it to close for the day.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, including several from U.S. cities that were canceled, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said.

Here's the latest:

British Airways chief executive Sean Doyle says the closure of Heathrow Airport will have a “huge impact” on passengers even after it reopens.

Heathrow is BA’s base and it is the airline most affected by the shutdown. Doyle said the airline had been due to operate more than 670 flights carrying more than 100,000 passengers on Friday.

Passengers booked to fly to or from Heathrow on Saturday or Sunday are being given the option to rebook to a later date for free.

In a video to customers, Doyle said: “We hope that power will be restored as soon as possible. But even when that does happen, this incident will have a substantial impact on our airline and customers for many days to come, with disruption to journeys expected over the coming days.”

Travelers say power is back on at one of the two Heathrow Airport terminals left in the dark after a fire at an electricity substation.

Lights came back on at Terminal 4 on Friday afternoon. Firefighters earlier said that terminals 2 and 4 at the airport had lost all power after the blaze. Heathrow shut the airport to all arriving and departing flights until at least midnight.

Electricity distributor National Grid said it had found an “interim solution” that reconfigured its network, allowing electricity to be restored to all customers, including Heathrow.

It’s unclear whether power to the airport has been fully restored.

Heathrow is facing questions about how it could be shut down by a fire at a single substation 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away.

The airport said it has emergency backup systems that worked as expected, but they are not enough to run the whole airport.

Willie Walsh, director general of airline industry group IATA, took to social media to lambaste Heathrow’s management.

“Firstly, how is it that critical infrastructure — of national and global importance — is totally dependent on a single power source without an alternative,” he said in a post from IATA’s account on social media platform X. “If that is the case — as it seems — then it is a clear planning failure by the airport.”

He also questioned whether it was fair that airlines are solely responsible for “picking up the tab when infrastructure fails.”

Stranded travelers looking for somewhere to stay until they can fly out of Heathrow faced the possibility of jacked-up prices for rooms because hotels are “capitalizing on a huge spike in demand”, warned Tim Hentschel, CEO of booking platform HotelPlanner.com.

In one example from the company’s website, the Crowne Plaza at Heathrow’s Terminal Four was charging 485 pounds ($627) for a room on Friday, compared with 140 pounds for the same time next week.

“Hotels near major transport hubs like Heathrow often see price fluctuations during such crises, as supply struggles to meet the sudden demand,” Hentschel said. He added that “there is also an essence of the hospitality industry price gouging to cash in on unfortunate circumstances, which is a real shame.”

United Airlines says that it is offering a travel waiver to its customers while Heathrow is closed so that they can switch to eligible flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris or Edinburgh. The airline said that all flights scheduled to arrive at Heathrow on Friday are canceled due to the closure.

Eurostar says it is adding two additional trains between London and Paris to accommodate passengers stranded by Heathrow’s shutdown.

The high-speed train that goes beneath the English Channel said it was increasing capacity by 882 passengers per train on Friday.

Heathrow Airport says it doesn’t know when power will be restored and expects disruption to last for days.

The airport said in a statement it does not have “clarity on when power may be reliably restored.”

It said it expects “significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”

Heathrow earlier said the airport is not expected to reopen until Saturday.

While the cause of the fire that shut down Heathrow Airport is still unclear, analysts say the incident raises concerns about the U.K.’s ability to withstand attacks or natural disasters that damage critical infrastructure such as communications and power networks.

It’s particularly worrisome given recent comments by Britain’s security services that Russia is conducting a reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe, said Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank focused on security and democracy in Europe.

“The U.K.’s critical national infrastructure is not sufficiently hardened for anywhere near the level it would need to be at to give us confidence this won’t happen again,” Mendoza said.

“I mean, if one fire can shut down Heathrow’s primary systems and then apparently the backup systems as well, it tells you something’s badly wrong with our system of management of such disasters,” he added.

The Heathrow disruption weighed on shares of European airlines, which posted declines that outpaced the fall in broader main stock indexes on Friday.

Shares of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, were down 1.4% after falling as much as 3% in early trading. Shares of Lufthansa, which operates Germany’s biggest carrier as well as Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and others, fell 1.3%. Air France-KLM, which operates the main carriers in France the Netherlands, slid 1.3%.

German leisure and tourism company TUI, which owns five airlines including one that serves the British market, slid 1.8%. Other European airlines that don’t operate at Heathrow were also dragged down by the negative sentiment. Wizz Air shares declined 1.4%, easyJet was down 0.7% and Ryanair dipped 0.8.

The British government says “clearly there are questions to answer” about how a single fire could shut down Europe’s busiest airport.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there must be a rigorous investigation to make sure “this scale of disruption does not happen again.”

Tom Wells said the most pressing task is to extinguish the fire, which is still burning on Friday. He said that “at the moment the priority is to deal with the incident in hand.”

He said “it’s very premature” to speculate on the cause of the blaze.

Flight operations remained normal in the United States on Friday despite the Heathrow fire, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Delta Airlines has issued a travel waiver through Sunday for customers who need to rebook their flights due to the Heathrow fire, a spokesperson said in a statement.

The company canceled 10 flights scheduled to depart from Heathrow on Friday.

Police say there is so far no indication of foul play in blaze that shut Heathrow but counterterror detectives leading the investigation into its cause.

The Metropolitan Police force says that is because of the location of the electrical substation fire and its impact on critical national infrastructure.

The force says counterterrorism command has “specialist resources and capabilities” that can help find the cause quickly.

The Heathrow closure is drawing comparisons to the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption that closed much of European airspace for five days out of fears volcanic ash could damage jet engines.

The eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-lah-yer-kuhl), after two centuries of silence, spewed an ash cloud that closed Europe’s airspace and grounded millions of travelers. Iceland was briefly infamous as the country that stopped the world.

Read more about Iceland’s tourism boom in the aftermath of the 2010 eruption.

Scandinavian Airlines has canceled all 12 of its flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and remain in continuous dialogue with Heathrow. Naturally, we hope for a swift resolution,” the company said in a statement.

Known as SAS, it’s considered the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

At Heathrow’s Terminal 5, a family of five traveling to Dallas had shown up in the hopes their flight home — still listed as delayed — would take off.

But when Andrea Sri brought her brother, sister-in-law and their three children to the airport, they were told by police that there would be no flight.

“It was a waste of time. Very confusing,” said Sri, who lives in London. “We tried to get in touch with British Airways, but they don’t open their telephone line until 8 a.m.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s biggest airports, but there are five others in the wider London area as well.

Travelers might be able to rebook through the remaining five airports -- City, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Southend -- in the aftermath of Heathrow’s closure.

However, they aren't all easy to reach from Heathrow. While City is in inner London, and buses link Heathrow with Gatwick, the others are further out. Southend is about a 78-mile drive from Heathrow, around the congested M25 orbital highway and then out to the eastern coast of England.

LONDON — Residents in west London have described hearing a large explosion, followed by a fireball and clouds of smoke, when a blaze ripped through an electrical substation near Heathrow Airport.

Matthew Muirhead, who was working a night shift, said that at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday he saw smoke rising over trees, then “a bright flash of white and all the lights in town went out.”

Delivery driver Adeel Anwar said the heat and billowing smoke from the blaze were “absolutely apocalyptic.” He told Sky News that as he drove past the substation “I just felt the heat … I tried to just get out of the area as quick as possible.”

Firefighters brought the blaze under control after seven hours and were still working to douse the flames on Friday. No injuries were reported.

Electricity supplier National Grid said power was restored to 62,000 customers by Friday morning, with 4,900 still without electricity.

NEW DELHI — All Air India flights to Heathrow were suspended until Friday midnight, the carrier said in a statement, adding that it will “update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information.”

The airline also said one of its flights had to return midair to Mumbai and another was diverted to Frankfurt. The company didn’t specify how many flights were affected in total.

Some passengers at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport said they had been informed of cancellations, while others said they were still waiting for the airline to provide them with alternate flights.

“As soon I went inside to get my boarding pass, they (airline staff) told us that the flight has been canceled and there is no flight for next two, three days,” passenger Vikas Swarup said.

Emma Fulton, who was in India’s Jaipur city for a wedding, said she received a text message en route to the airport.

“We had a text message about 20 mins before we arrived here, but we were already on the road,” she said.

Any travelers impacted by the Heathrow closure should contact their airline.

If a phone call doesn’t go through, travelers can also try contacting the airline on social media. Several airlines were responding to passengers’ posts on social platform X on Friday. A representative for British Airways, for example, was telling customers on X to send a direct message to the airline’s account so they could assist in rebooking.

For customers who are seeking a refund or other compensation, a European Union regulation known as EU261 could apply. Because the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, however, not every flight will be covered under EU261. The regulation covers flights within the EU, as well as flights departing from the EU to a non-EU country.

GLASGOW — Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from John F. Kennedy International in New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. “Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston (railway station in London), but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”

DUBLIN — Ryanair has added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, on Friday and Saturday to help travelers impacted by the fire at Heathrow, the budget airline announced.

Ryanair does not operate at Heathrow.

Four of the flights will occur Friday afternoon, and the remaining on Saturday morning.

LONDON — British officials working to determine the cause of an electrical substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport have not yet found evidence it’s suspicious.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says “it’s too early to say” what caused the huge blaze, but there’s “no suggestion” of foul play.

London’s Metropolitan Police say the fire brigade is leading the investigation, suggesting it’s not thought to be criminal.

The noise from Europe's busiest airport is a constant bugbear for those who live nearby, but has temporarily fallen silent.

“Basically living near Heathrow is noisy. There are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing," said James Henderson, who has lived next to Heathrow for over 20 years.

"Today is different. You can hear the birds singing.”

LONDON — Aviation consultant John Strickland says it will take several days for global airline travel to recover from a daylong closure of Heathrow Airport.

He said: “We’re talking about several days’ worth of disruption to get the planes recovered and start using them again to move planned and disrupted passengers.”

Strickland compared the disruption to “a contained version of 9/11 or, to an extent, the Icelandic volcanic eruption” that shut European airspace in 2010.

“I remembered seeing on those occasions – particularly more so on 9/11 – it happened so quick and then U.S. airspace was closed, they were turning back aircraft and holding planes. That’s the parallel I would make.

“Heathrow being such a busy airport and full, there’s no kind of wriggle room for getting out of these kind of things.”

The closure of Heathrow rippled through global aviation. The long-haul carrier Emirates in Dubai, which has London as one of its top destinations, canceled six round-trip flights to Heathrow on Friday alone.

Etihad in neighboring Abu Dhabi canceled two round-trip flights, while one flight diverted to Frankfurt, Germany. Qatar Airways said at least seven scheduled flights were “impacted,” with its staff working with passengers.

A British government minister says a “catastrophic” fire knocked out a backup generator as well as the electrical substation that supplies power to Heathrow Airport.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC that the blaze is “unprecedented.”

He said it’s too early to know the cause but that lessons will have to be learned about “protection and the resilience that is in place for major institutions like Heathrow.”

The London Fire Brigade says the electrical substation blaze closed Heathrow Airport is under control.

The fire caused a widespread power outage, affecting thousands of homes, local businesses, and disrupting thousands of flights.

LFB Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne says the fire was under control just after 8 a.m.

“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” he said. “Thanks to their efforts and a coordinated multi-agency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% for the same period last year. January also was the 11th month in a row it averaged over 200,000 passengers a day, with the airport citing trans-Atlantic travel as a key contributor.

Heathrow normally opens for flights at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. It said the closure would last until 11:59 p.m. Friday.

The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.

Flames soared into the sky when a transformer at an electrical substation caught fire in west London late Thursday night. The fire continued to smolder after daybreak.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes. About 150 people were evacuated. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.