UK Air Traffic Glitch Triggers Mass Disruptions, Over 100 Flights Cancelled

LONDON:
More than 100 flights were cancelled and several others delayed after a technical glitch in the UK’s air traffic control system led to widespread disruption at key airports across the country.

The issue, identified as radar-related by the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), temporarily halted departures from major hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and London City airports on Wednesday (local time).

Although the malfunction was reportedly resolved within 20 minutes through a switch to a backup system, cascading delays and cancellations continued for several hours, leaving thousands of travellers stranded or rerouted, according to local media reports.

NATS later issued a statement confirming that systems were “fully operational” again and that air traffic capacity was returning to normal levels.

The agency acknowledged the inconvenience caused and issued an apology for the disruption.

Low-cost airline Ryanair emerged as one of the worst-hit carriers, claiming the incident triggered more than four hours of operational chaos, local media reports suggested.

The airline drew comparisons with a similar system failure in August 2023 that had also resulted in major disruptions, sparking criticism over the air traffic authority’s preparedness.

Neal McMahon, CEO of Ryanair, strongly criticised the management of the latest disruption and called for the resignation of NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe.

“It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption,” McMahon said.

“It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the August 2023 NATS system outage,” the Ryanair CEO added.

Airports and airlines urged passengers to contact their respective carriers before heading to the airport, as recovery efforts were expected to continue through the evening.