Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted among major airports affected; NATS says engineers are working to restore normal operations
More than 600 flights were cancelled across the UK on Tuesday after a technical problem hit the flight-processing system of air traffic control provider NATS, disrupting operations at several major airports.
Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted were among the airports affected, with widespread delays and cancellations reported. London Luton, Birmingham, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports also experienced disruption, while Dublin Airport warned of delays to some arriving and departing flights.
NATS said the fault had been identified in its flight-processing system and that engineers were working to restore normal operations. The agency apologised to passengers for the disruption and said UK airspace remained open, although the recovery would take time.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 said the technical problem had resulted in restrictions on both arriving and departing flights across the London flight information region. Edinburgh Airport also warned that its operations could be affected.
British Airways said the disruption was affecting its flights and that the problem was outside the airline’s control. The carrier said it was coordinating with affected passengers while its teams worked to get travellers moving again.
Despite the scale of the disruption, there were no immediate reports of a significant impact on incoming flights. The precise cause of the technical failure had not been established at the time of the report.
The incident left thousands of passengers facing delays, cancellations and uncertainty at airports across Britain as authorities worked to bring the air traffic system back to normal.
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