[1/5]A British Airways worker speaks to passengers at Heathrow Airport as Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) restricts British air travel due to a technical problem causing delays, in London, Britain August 28, 2023. Portal/Hollie Adams acquires licensing rights
LONDON, Aug 28 (Portal) – The UK’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) was plagued by a technical problem for several hours on Monday, causing widespread disruption to flights in UK airspace, which airlines and airports have said are continuing despite the Problems would persist for some time.
NATS was previously forced to limit air travel after the issue impacted its system’s ability to automatically process flight schedules, warning airlines and airports of delays and cancellations.
“We identified and fixed the technical issue in our flight planning system this morning. We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage affected flights as efficiently as possible,” NATS said in a statement.
“Our engineers will carefully monitor the performance of the system as we return to normal operations.”
UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper said he is working with NATS to help them manage affected flights and care for passengers.
Former Irish air navigation service provider AirNav Ireland said the problem, which arose in parts of the UK during a bank holiday, had caused “significant delays to flights across Europe flying into, out of or through UK airspace”.
A spokesman for London Heathrow, the busiest hub in western Europe, said flight schedules would be significantly disrupted for the remainder of the day.
“We ask passengers to travel to the airport only if it is confirmed that their flight is still operating. Teams across Heathrow are working as hard as possible to minimize the fallout and provide support to those whose travel has been impacted,” the spokesman said.
British Airways said its flights were severely disrupted and that it had made “significant changes” to its flight schedule, while other airlines, including Ryanair, also said some flights to and from the UK would be delayed or cancelled.
Manchester Airport, London Stansted and London Gatwick were among the many UK airports to warn of delays and cancellations, while Dublin Airport said the problem had caused delays and cancellations on some flights in and out of the Irish capital.
Many passengers took to social media to say they were stuck on planes on the tarmac awaiting departure or held in airport buildings in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel and elsewhere on what is traditionally a busy travel day as the school holidays drew nearer to one End.
A Portal witness who was held on the tarmac in Budapest for two hours before being taken off the plane said his pilot told passengers to expect a delay of between 8 and 12 hours.
Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, additional reporting by Mitch Phillips; Adaptation by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Alison Williams and Alex Richardson
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