Abstract:
Hundreds of flights have been grounded or delayed at several major airports in the UK due to technical glitches in the UK's air traffic control system, causing chaos for airlines and travelers across the country. London's Heathrow Airport, the UK's largest aviation hub, said in a statement on Tuesday that the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) had experienced a failure and that only outbound flights were currently affected. London Gatwick, London Luton and Edinburgh airports also confirmed flights were affected.
NATS, the public-private partnership responsible for UK air traffic control, said it had confirmed a technical glitch in its flight processing system.
A NATS spokesperson said in an emailed statement, "There are still flights taking off and the airspace remains open, but it will take some time to resume normal operations. Our engineers are already on site and are working hard to restore normal operations as soon as possible."
According to data from FlightAware, so far, more than 60 flights have been canceled and more than 200 flights have been delayed at Heathrow Airport alone.
The UK has experienced several disruptions to its air traffic control system over the past few years, including one last summer caused by an unspecified radar-related issue.
Three years ago, the UK closed its airspace for a time due to a malfunction in the air traffic control system, stranding aircraft, crews and passengers.
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