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UK air traffic disruption persists as Nats glitch leads to more cancellations
Cirium data shows airlines cancelled 327 flights on Wednesday after 1,750 were axed on Tuesday, with schedules expected to take days to normalize.
Air passengers faced a second day of disruption in the UK as flights continued to be cancelled after a technical glitch affected the country's air traffic control system operated by Nats, the BBC Business reported. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said airlines cancelled 327 flights on Wednesday, following the cancellation of 1,750 flights on Tuesday after the problem emerged.
Nats, which provides air traffic control for the UK, said its operations were stable as of Wednesday afternoon and apologised, while also promising an investigation into what would be its third major technical fault in three years. The government said Nats boss Martin Rolfe has its confidence, after Rolfe met Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to discuss “significant concerns” about the widespread disruption, according to the BBC.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called the outage “unacceptable,” and Downing Street said Nats must report back in one week detailing what went wrong during Tuesday’s incident. Flyers were advised to keep checking with airlines, and Heathrow said passengers should only travel to the airport if their flight is confirmed to be operating.
The impact has been felt across major airports, with the BBC citing FlightRadar data that identified Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Birmingham as the worst affected. Heathrow initially paused departures around lunchtime on Tuesday before resuming, while Gatwick said flights had resumed but that it would take time to fully return to normal, and airports including Bristol, Belfast City, and Luton reported knock-on effects.