Air traffic control issues ground flights across UK
A 'technical issue' in the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight processing system caused widespread grounding and delays of hundreds of flights across UK airports.
The disruption affected major airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted, with knock-on effects expected to last into Wednesday, impacting long-haul flights including those to and from India.
NATS has implemented a fix and its flight system is recovering, apologising for the significant disruption to passengers.
Ryanair has strongly criticised NATS, calling for CEO Martin Rolfe's resignation, citing repeated mismanagement and a similar 'catastrophic system meltdown' in 2023.
Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for the latest flight information before travelling to airports.
A 'technical issue' affecting air traffic control grounded hundreds of flights at airports across the United Kingdom on Tuesday, including cancellations and delays of long-haul flights to and from India.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK's leading provider of air traffic control and airspace management, said that it had identified the issue in its flight processing system and implemented a fix.
However, the knock-on effect of the delays is expected to last several hours and even spill over into Wednesday.
"We have implemented a fix and our flight system is starting to recover," NATS said in a statement.
"We are continuing to work closely with our airline and airport customers on recovery. We apologise sincerely for the disruption to people's journeys today and they should continue to check with their airline," it stated.
Flights at London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted as well as airports further afield in the East Midlands region of England struggled with take-off and landing schedules, with several planes being diverted to alternative airports in Europe.
At Heathrow, departures were initially paused and then resumed, before facing further disruption in the afternoon local time when several planes remained grounded for hours.
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was aware of the frustrating situation for passengers.
"Technicians have identified the issue and are fixing it as we speak. I know this will be frustrating for passengers and I'm sorry. Please check with your airline for latest advice," she said.
Heathrow Airport issued a statement to say the 'technical issue' was impacting arriving and departing flights across UK airports.
"We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologise to those affected by the disruption and advise passengers to check with their airline for the latest flight information and only travel to the airport if their flight is confirmed," it stated.
British Airways said the situation was entirely out of its control and was working to resolve the crisis.
Meanwhile, Ryanair called on NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to quit after the system failure which caused widespread delays and cancellations across UK airspace, disrupting over 65,000 Ryanair passengers and cancelling over 50 scheduled flights.
"How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns," questioned Ryanair COO Neal McMahon.
"Over three years after NATS' catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it's clear that nothing has changed, with UK passengers once again suffering avoidable ATC delays of up to eight hours today due to a critical NATS ATC system failing.
"Families travelling on holiday, people travelling for work and thousands of visitors to the UK have once again paid the price for NATS' abhorrent failure," he said.
