A technical breakdown in the UK’s air traffic control system left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded with airline passengers being cautioned about potential extended flight disruptions.
British Airways informed passengers on Monday that all check-in desks were closed and no flights would take off until 6pm.
Travellers waited near the British Airways check-in area at Heathrow Airport, as Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS) restricted UK air traffic, causing delays in London, Britain, August 28, 2023.
The technical breakdown in the air traffic control system of the country led to a holiday weekend filled with frustration as 500 flights were canceled and numerous others faced significant delays, according to British media.
Holidaymakers and those intending to depart from UK airports were hit by bank holiday travel delays after a UK air traffic control failure meant flight plans had to be input manually by controllers. They encountered flight cancellations and delays of up to 12 hours on Monday due to a widespread computer failure that affected both outgoing and incoming flights.
The country’s leading provider of air traffic control, National Air Traffic Services (Nats), said at 3.15pm that it had “identified and remedied” the technical issue affecting its systems and was working with airlines and airports to support the affected flights.
Major UK airlines such as BA and Tui and have warned of “significant delays” for passengers amid changes to schedules. The travel operator Tui urged its customers to expect significant delays to some of its flights.
Huge inconvenience
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said Flights will remain “significantly disrupted” for the rest of Monday, despite the technical issue being resolved.
British Airways announced that passengers with travel plans for Monday or Tuesday could reschedule their flights at no extra cost.
3,049 flights were due to depart UK airports while 3,054 were scheduled to arrive on Monday,, according to analysis by aviation analytics firm Cirium which equates to over 543,000 on arriving planes and 540,000 seats on departing flights.
Ryanair passengers who were waiting at Stansted Airport in Essex said there were cheers when two flights to Copenhagen and Paphos were announced for boarding.
They said they had heard airlines cancel about five flights while they had been waiting at the gate.
Mark Harper, Transport Secretary said ministers were working with Nats to “help them manage affected flights and support passengers”.
The Nats statement added that they were working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible and their engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance as they return to normal operations.
Lawrence Sinclair, 26, who works for a holiday company, told the PA news agency that following the cancellation of his earlier flight, he had to book on to another BA flight to Gothenburg in Sweden, which leaves at 8.50pm. He said he did not know if the later flight was going to go or not and he was supposed to go at 3.50pm. He said that hopefully he would fly at 8.50pm but that was going to be delayed. He said it was annoying. “I’m going to see my girlfriend in Sweden, but if I don’t go today I’ll go tomorrow.”
Irene Franklin, 60, travelling with her daughter, son-in-law and two friends had her Delta flight from Heathrow to Austin, Texas cancelled at the last minute.
She told PA outside Terminal 3 that it said it was delayed by two hours, but it was cancelled and that it was now not until tomorrow morning at 10 and that it was frustrating.
When asked if she had been offered compensation, she said: “No. Not for a place to stay tonight, not for a cab ride.” She said the although the Delta customer service was really helpful, and got them on to the same flight with seats together but did not really do anything else.
She said they had a hotel booked but had to pay for it and for their meals.
Daniela Walther, 44, was supposed to leave Heathrow for Stuttgart, Germany, on a BA flight at 5.25pm which will now leave later than 1 am. She said staff had been helpful but it had taken them a while to find someone to talk to.
A retired barrister stuck in Sardinia claimed that easyJet pilot said he had not seen an incident like this in 20 years.
Gemma Saleh, 43, who teaches part-time at law school and lives in Newcastle, told PA she boarded an easyJet flight with her family at which was heading for Gatwick at 11.30am Sardinia time (10.30am London time), and had to remain on the plane for close to two hours.
Mrs Saleh, her husband, a 43-year-old surgeon, their two children, aged 10 and 8, and other passengers on the flight, were taken by bus back to the terminal to “wait it out there”.
She said easyJet provided free snacks and she was not sure when she would return home, with that flight having already been delayed since Sunday.
