300 flights cancelled in UK over technical problems

Almost 300 flights to and from the United Kingdom have been cancelled amid widespread disruption to airport operations across the country following technical problems.

The issue began on Tuesday after the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) announced that its flight-processing system, which handles flight plans and other information used by air-traffic controllers, experienced a fault at over a dozen airports in the UK. 

More than 600 flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to the incident, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, with some unable to disembark from planes for several hours after managing to successfully land. 

In a social media post on Tuesday, UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander announced that the NATS had fixed the issue but would take some time before airport operations were restored back to normal. 

“Pleased @NATS have fixed the issue, and huge thanks to those working to get people moving. It will take time to fully resume flights, so continue to check with airlines. I am seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job,” Ms Alexander said. 

Despite Ms Alexander’s confirmation that the issue has been resolved, close to 300 flights had been cancelled across the UK on Wednesday, taking the number of affected flights to over 2,000 between Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Reports noted that the Heathrow was the most affected airport with 187 already cancelled today followed by Manchester (14), Gatwick (12), Edinburgh (12), Luton (Luton), Glasgow (10), Bristol (9), London City (7), Stansted (2) and Birmingham (1).