Air traffic control problem disrupts flights across U.K. | CBC News
Technical issue fixed, but recovery taking longer than hoped, officials say
Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to a technical problem in Britain's air traffic control system that caused disruptions at major airports across the U.K.
The cancellations and delays renewed scrutiny of NATS three years after a flight-plan processing failure caused even more widespread disruption.
"Recovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped. Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights," NATS said on X.
CEO Martin Rolfe told Sky News that NATS hadn't yet "fully done the investigation" to find cause of the problem.
ℹ️ Technical issueRecovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped . Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights. (1/2) https://t.co/NpFp3PBDo7
Some passengers took to social media to complain about being stuck on the tarmac for hours before their flights were eventually cancelled. Many expressed frustration about a lack of communication from airlines.
The affected airports included Stansted and City in London, as well as those in Manchester, Birmingham, Gatwick and Scotland. They warned passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline.
"How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns?" Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon said.
Wizz Air also called for urgent reform of the air traffic controller, saying airlines, passengers and airports should not continue to bear the consequences of recurring system failures.
Britain's aviation regulator said it would expect NATS to share a full report of Tuesday's incident.
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- Technical issue fixed, but recovery taking longer than hoped, officials say
- Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to a technical problem in Britain's air traffic control system that caused disruptions at major airports across the U.K.
- The cancellations and delays renewed scrutiny of NATS three years after a flight-plan processing failure caused even more widespread disruption.
- "Recovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped. Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights," NATS said on X.
- CEO Martin Rolfe told Sky News that NATS hadn't yet "fully done the investigation" to find cause of the problem.