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20 hours ago
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First flights seen taking off from impacted airports
Flightradar24 data is now showing first flights departing from airports that previously reported disruptions, with British Airways SHT8W flight from London Heathrow Airport to Edinburgh taking off a moment ago, with about 55 minutes delay.
Similar incidents in 2023, 2014 - context
Back in 2023, a previous glitch affecting Nats, the company that provides national air traffic control services in the UK, meant the system was out of action for several hours causing disruption to more than 700,000 passengers.
Here is what we know about what happened in 2023:
There was also a similar outage at Nats national centre in Swanwick, Hampshire in 2014, that resulted in dozens of flights being cancelled and delayed.
Jakub Krupa
The scale of the disruption caused by the outage is yet to become clear, but it’s worth remembering that this is happening during what is a very busy summer period, and so could have knock on effects on what is usually an already very tight flight schedule.
Air traffic authority 'in process of resuming normal operations'
We now have a further update from Nats, saying it has restored the system affected by the outage and will work with airlines to minimise disruption caused.
Here is their statement:
“Our engineers have now restored the system that was affected this afternoon. We are in the process of resuming normal operations in the London area.
We continue to work closely with airline and airport customers to minimise disruption. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”
Edinburgh Airport reports disruption due to technical outage
Edinburgh Airport has now reported being affected by the technical outage too.
In a post on X, it said:
“Due to a technical issue impacting NATS, all departures from Edinburgh Airport are currently being held. We are waiting for further information from NATS and will provide updates when possible. Please check with your airline for the latest information on your flight.”
Flights across southern UK affected due to traffic control issues - Flightradar24
Flightradar24 tracking service reported earlier that “as per Eurocontrol, technical issues have closed the London CTA, affecting flights across the southern UK.”
Air traffic control issue affecting UK airports near London
UK flights in the London area are affected by delays after Nats, the UK air traffic control authority, said it was restricting flights due to a “technical issue” at NATS Swanwick air traffic control centre “in order to ensure safety, which is always our first priority.”
In a statement on social media, it added:
“Our engineers are working hard to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and we are working closely with airlines to help minimise disruption.
At this stage we cannot say how long it will be before operations are back to normal.”
Gatwick Airport reported impact on all outbound flights across the UK, while London City Airport said “flights in and out of London airports - including London City Airport - might be delayed or subject to cancellation.”
