A technical failure in the UK's air traffic control system disrupted air travel across the country, grounding hundreds of flights and affecting long-haul services between the UK and India.
The disruption, which began on Tuesday, hit several major airports, including London's Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh. Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 said around 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday, while another 177 cancellations had been recorded by Wednesday morning, most of them at Heathrow.
The disruption also affected Air India services. In
a post on X, the airline said a technical fault at national air traffic services (NATS), the UK's air traffic control and airspace management-provider, had forced it to divert, delay or cancel multiple flights operating to and from British airports.
Air India warned that the disruption could continue to affect other flights as aircraft and crew had been left out of position because of the operational upheaval.
In a travel advisory issued on X, the airline asked passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and are making every effort to minimise disruptions as much as possible," Air India said.
NATS said the problem was traced to a technical fault in its flight processing system. The organisation later announced that it had introduced a fix and restored the system to normal operation.
However, restoring the system did not immediately clear the backlog. NATS warned that it would take time to get flights and aircraft movements back on schedule as airlines and airports worked through the disruption.
"Our system issue is now resolved. We are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights," NATS said.
The impact was being felt well beyond the initial system failure, with tens of thousands of passengers facing delays and cancellations as airlines attempted to reposition aircraft and crews.
The disruption also spilled into services between the UK and Ireland. Dublin Airport warned passengers that flights to and from the UK could be affected.
The scale of the disruption prompted an apology from NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe, while UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander was reported to have summoned him for a meeting to seek an explanation for the failure and its wider impact on passengers.
More than 150 flights had already been cancelled on Wednesday, adding to the disruption from the previous day. Heathrow was particularly affected, with the majority of Wednesday's cancellations recorded there, according to Flightradar24 data.
In a
post on X, Heathrow Airport said, "Following yesterday's NATS technical issue, flights are operating today, but some disruption may continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crew. Please check your flight status with your airline before travelling to the airport and only travel if your flight is confirmed to be operating. We apologise to those affected and have extra colleagues across our terminals to support passengers while we work with NATS and airline partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible."
For passengers travelling between India and UK, the disruption has created uncertainty even after NATS declared the technical problem resolved. Flights may continue to be delayed or cancelled as airlines work to restore normal aircraft and crew schedules.
Air India has, therefore, advised passengers to verify their flight status before travelling to the airport, rather than relying on the original schedule.
The episode highlights how a failure in a critical air traffic management system can quickly cascade across the aviation network. Even after the underlying technical problem is fixed, delays can persist as aircraft, pilots and cabin crew are no longer in their planned positions.
With the backlog still being cleared, the effects of Tuesday's failure were expected to persist for several hours, potentially into Wednesday, leaving passengers facing further disruption despite the restoration of NATS' flight-processing system.
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