Flights at UK airports hit by major technical issue
Heathrow was closed for 18 hours, stranding passengers.
A British Airways Airbus A380 takes off in view of the control tower at Heathrow Airport, in London, Britain, November 28, 2023. Outgoing flights from all United Kingdom airports are being disrupted by technical problems, London’s Gatwick Airport said on July 30. (Photo credit: Peter Nicholls/Reuters/FILE via CNN Newsource)
London (CNN) — Outgoing flights from United Kingdom airports were disrupted by air traffic control technical problems on Wednesday, according to several airports.
Airports across Britain – including Edinburgh Airport in Scotland, Newcastle Airport in north England, and Gatwick Airport in London – posted to X that flights from their transport hubs were suspended. More airports posted that flights were delayed.
Inbound flights were still able to land, London’s Gatwick Airport said. Monitoring site Flightradar24 showed that no flights were taking off from UK airports at one point, though planes were later seen departing from several hubs.
The flights were affected after an air traffic control center controlling 200,000 square miles of airspace experienced a “technical issue,” the country’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said in a statement. Engineers were quickly able to restore the system that was affected, it later added.
“We continue to work closely with airline and airport customers to minimize disruption. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused,” NATS said.
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) posted to X to remind passengers of their rights if their flights are delayed or canceled.
Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair appeared to take a swipe at NATS’ CEO, naming him while responding to a news article about the delays.
Wednesday was not the first time this year that the UK’s airspace has been affected by delays.
Back in March, more than 1,300 flights across the world were affected after a fire broke out at an electrical substation near Heathrow Airport in London, the largest travel hub in the country.
Heathrow was closed for 18 hours, costing airlines tens of millions of pounds and stranding thousands of passengers.
This story has been updated with developments.
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