Flights across Britain have been hit by major disruption after a technical failure within the UK’s air traffic control system affected departures from airports across the country.
The disruption began on Tuesday afternoon, with passengers at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands, Belfast City and other airports reporting delays as the problem affected departing aircraft.
NATS, which provides air traffic control services across the UK, confirmed it was dealing with a technical issue affecting its flight processing system.
Despite initial reports that flights had been completely grounded, NATS later stressed that UK airspace remained open and flights were still departing, although significant disruption was continuing while operations recovered.
NATS said: “We have identified that the issue was in our flight processing system. Our engineers are on site and working urgently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible.
“We recognise the ongoing disruption to travel, for which we sincerely apologise. Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time.”
Heathrow departures affected
Heathrow said the NATS problem was affecting departing flights at UK airports, while arriving services were not initially affected.
Passengers were advised to check directly with their airline before travelling as schedules could continue to change during the recovery.
Gatwick also confirmed it was among the airports affected, while Manchester Airports Group said services at Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports had been impacted.
Belfast City and Jersey airports also warned passengers of disruption.
Reports from travellers indicated some aircraft had been waiting on the ground for lengthy periods, while delays elsewhere in Europe were also affecting passengers due to fly into the UK.
The disruption comes during a busy period for the Aviation network and could have a knock-on effect even after the technical problem is resolved as airlines attempt to reposition aircraft and crews.
Passengers should continue checking their individual flight status directly with their airline before heading to the airport.
