NATS system failure at European airports. More than 1,300 flights were cancelled
There was a failure of the NATS system at British airports. The effects are felt by, among others: Ryanair and British Airways passengers.
Travelers using the largest airports in Great Britain must prepare for further difficulties. Problems with the air traffic control system, which led to massive delays and cancellations on Tuesday, September 8, will continue to affect passengers on Wednesday. Although the serious failure has been removed, its effects are still felt. The most difficult situation is at London Heathrow, but disruptions also occurred at Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airport.
At least 1,300 flights were canceled in the UK
On Tuesday alone, problems led to the cancellation of around 1,300 flights at British airports. According to CNN, over 150 more flights were canceled on Wednesday morning, the vast majority of which were to Heathrow, the country’s largest airport. The scale of difficulties also hit specific European carriers, especially Ryanair. The carrier reported that the problems affected approximately 65,000. its passengers, and over 50 scheduled flights had to be canceled.
Although departures from Heathrow have already resumed, some operations are still not taking place. This morning, the following were canceled: flights operated by British Airways to Paris, Zagreb, Larnaca, Lisbon and Warsaw. The national carrier is feeling the effects of the failure the most both yesterday and today. The airport operator warned that it may take some time to return to a normal schedule.
The effects of the failure were felt far beyond the UK
The outage was blamed on a problem in the system operated by NATS, the UK’s main provider of air traffic control services. The company announced that the defect had been removed, but admitted that the repair took longer than initially expected. “We know this is extremely frustrating and we sincerely apologize,” NATS said. However, the effects of internal problems reached even beyond Great Britain. Air India had to redirect or cancel some flights, as did Qatar Airways, which “warned of delays and possible rerouting of flights to and from the UK.”
