Hundreds of departing flights from major British airports were disrupted on Tuesday after air traffic control provider NATS experienced a technical issue, with Heathrow , Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted among the hubs affected by cancellations and delays.
There appeared to be no reported impact on incoming flights. “We have identified that the issue was in our flight processing system. Our engineers are on site and working urgently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible. London Luton and Birmingham airports were among those reporting delays or cancellations, along with Aberdeen and Glasgow . The cause of the technical issue was not immediately known.
Around 100 flights at Heathrow have been cancelled and 367 delayed, according to FlightAware data. At Gatwick, about 250 flights have been delayed, accounting for around 31% of all flights there, news agency Reuters reported.
We recognise the ongoing disruption to travel, for which we sincerely apologise,” NATS said in a statement. Flightradar24, a website that tracks flights, said on social media that the problem had led to strict controls on both arriving and departing flights at airports across the London flight information region. Edinburgh Airport said in a post on X that its operations could also be affected by the problem. Dublin Airport in Ireland said flights arriving at and departing from the airport were experiencing disruptions as well. Dublin Airport also said some incoming and outgoing flights would face delays. British Airways said the technical problem was disrupting its flights. “This is entirely out of our control and we’re in touch with our customers whilst our teams work to get them on their way as quickly as possible,” the airline said in a statement.
“Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time,” it added.
