A major technical failure in the UK’s air traffic control system caused widespread disruption on September 8, affecting at least 15 airports and cancelling more than 1,000 flights. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City, Manchester, Birmingham, Luton and Edinburgh were among the airports impacted.
The problem affected the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight-processing system. Engineers worked to restore the system, with a fix implemented later in the afternoon. However, the disruption created a major backlog of aircraft, passengers and crews, causing delays to continue even after the system was restored.
Ryanair said more than 65,000 passengers were affected, with some facing delays of up to eight hours. British Airways cancelled or diverted more than 100 flights, while easyJet reported widespread disruption across Europe.
Heathrow resumed departures but suspended arrivals for the remainder of Tuesday evening as airlines worked to recover their schedules. The disruption also affected flights beyond the UK, with aircraft and crews left out of position across Europe.
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander called for assurances that lessons would be learned from the failure, while the Civil Aviation Authority said it expects a full report from NATS