UK air traffic control says it has fixed a technical problem that sparked delays and cancelations
By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of air travelers around the world faced delays on Monday after Britain’s air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
More than three hours after it reported the “technical issue,” flight control operator National Air Traffic Services said it had “identified and remedied” the problem.
NATS said the outage had hit its ability to process flight plans automatically, meaning the plans had to be input manually, a much slower process.
The service said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety” but that U.K. airspace remained open.
Monday is a holiday for many in the U.K. and a date when many families return from vacations before the start of the school year.
After fixing the problem, NATS said it was “working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible. Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance as we return to normal operations.”
European air traffic authority Eurocontrol warned of “very high” delays, and airports both inside and outside the U.K. told passengers to expect waits and cancellations. Passengers scheduled to fly to Britain from European airports said they were being told to expect delays of several hours or more.
Heathrow, Europe’s busiest air hub, said “national airspace issues” were causing disruption to flights, and advised passengers to check with their airline.
Dublin Airport said in a statement that air traffic control issues were resulting in delays and cancellations to some flights into and out of the Irish capital. “We advise all passengers due to travel today to check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of traveling,” it said.
British Airways said it had had to make “significant changes” to its schedule. It advised passengers booked on short-haul flights Monday: “Please do not travel to the airport without checking the status of your flight, as it may no longer be operating.”
Aviation analyst Alastair Rosenschein, a former BA pilot, said the air traffic system appeared to have suffered “some kind of patchy failure as opposed to a total shutdown.”
He told Sky News that “the disruption will be quite severe at some airports” and some U.K.-bound flights will likely have to land in other European countries in order to reduce the flow of inbound planes.
