LONDON – A glitch hit UK air traffic control systems massively, leaving hundreds of thousands of people to face flight delays or change their plans.
Holidaymakers are stranded on the tarmac all over the UK and abroad as National Air Traffic Services said it had applied restrictions to traffic flow for safety.
The body said a technical issue was affecting its “ability to automatically process flight plans” but did not explain how long it would take to fix the system though experts say it could last for a few hours.
“Until our engineers have resolved this, flight plans are being input manually which means we cannot process them at the same volume, hence we have applied traffic flow restrictions. Our technical experts are looking at all possible solutions to rectify this as quickly as possible,” it said and added that the priority was ensuring every flight in the UK remains safe.
NATS advised passengers to contact their airline for information on how this may affect their flight.
Meanwhile, carriers have sent different notifications to their flyers. EasyJet has warned them of inevitable delays but advised against canceling or changing holiday plans.
The severity of the issue can be gauged from the fact that several airports across the UK, and airlines including Ryanair, Wizz Air, Loganair and Aer Lingus have all warned passengers of the disruption.
As of now, the passengers have no clue when they will be able to take off and meet their loved ones awaiting them.
As far as the number of affected flights is concerned, Cirium, an aviation data firm, said 3,049 flights were due to depart UK airports on Monday, and a further 3,054 flights were scheduled to arrive.
Meanwhile, spokespeople for London Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick airports all stated they were experiencing issues, urging customers to contact their airlines.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport said “some flights might be subject to a delay”, while Edinburgh Airport urged passengers to check with their airline before heading to the airport.
