UK air traffic control hit by ‘network-wide failure’, airlines warn of ‘very high’ delays

 

UK's Air Traffic Control's computer systems faced technical glitch which affected airlines, both domestic and international. According to reports, thousands of air travellers faced delays on Monday after Britain's air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown. 

Earlier Scottish airline Loganair had said there had been “a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems."

“Although we are hopeful of being able to operate most intra-Scotland flights on the basis of local coordination and with a minimum of disruption, north-south and international flights may be subject to delays," it said.

Flight control operator National Air Traffic Services said it was experiencing an unexplained “technical issue" that could delay flights on Monday, the end of a holiday weekend and one of the busiest travel days of the year.

The service said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety" and that engineers were working to find and fix the fault. It said UK airspace remained open.

It did not give an estimate of how long it would take to fix the problem, or what had caused it, but European air traffic authority Eurocontrol warned of “very high" delays because of a “flight data processing system failure" in the U.K.

Airports both inside and outside the UK told passengers to expect delays and cancellations, according to a report by AP.

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 Dublin. "We advise all passengers due to travel today to check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of travelling," it said.