Technical Glitch Disrupts Air Traffic Control in the UK, Nearly 300 Flights Canceled

London, September 8 (Daily Kiran) : A significant technical issue in air traffic control has caused major disruptions to flights across the United Kingdom, impacting airports including Heathrow and Gatwick. The problems began on Tuesday afternoon, leading to a wave of flight cancellations and delays that persisted into the evening.

According to FlightRadar24, approximately 300 flights have been canceled so far, with the majority of cancellations affecting flights departing from London airports. Following the emergence of the technical glitch, very few flights were able to take off.

The air traffic control provider, NATS, reported that it had resolved the system issue shortly before 5 PM. This incident marks the third major disruption in three years, prompting airlines to call for significant improvements within the agency.

From 2 PM onward, flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, and London City airports experienced delays or were unable to take off. Data from analytics company Cirium indicated that by 4:15 PM, around 90 flights arriving and departing from Heathrow and Gatwick had been canceled. Other UK airports, including Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol, and Belfast, also reported disruptions.

Ryanair announced that the cancellation of 50 flights has affected over 65,000 passengers, while easyJet noted widespread impacts on flights throughout Europe. Eurocontrol stated that some inbound flights were diverted to foreign airports, with disruptions expected to continue into the evening.

NATS initially acknowledged the technical problem around 1:46 PM, indicating that it was investigating issues affecting flight departures. Later, it identified the problem with its flight processing system and announced a resolution by 4:40 PM.

Despite the fix, NATS emphasized that it is working closely with airlines and airports to manage recovery efforts. The agency issued an apology for the travel disruptions experienced by passengers and advised them to stay in contact with their airlines.

Heathrow initially claimed that only departures were affected but later confirmed that NATS’s technical issues impacted both incoming and outgoing flights at UK airports.