UK air traffic control failure grounds over 300 flights, hits Heathrow and Gatwick

A major technical fault threw Britain's aviation network into disarray on Tuesday. A sudden glitch in the country's main air traffic control system forced more than 300 flights to be cancelled, while hundreds of others were delayed for hours. The impact was worst at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports, where large crowds of passengers gathered amid scenes of chaos.

The National Air Traffic Services, or NATS, saw its flight processing system develop a technical problem around 1:46 pm on Tuesday afternoon. This caused repeated disruption to flight information and air traffic control operations. With passenger and aircraft safety in mind, authorities had to immediately impose strict flight restrictions. Engineers fixed the fault after roughly two hours of work, but its effects lingered for several hours afterward, throwing the entire flight schedule into disorder. NATS apologised for the incident and worked on a war footing to restore the system.

Heathrow Airport normally handles around 1,300 flights a day, of which more than 352 had their schedules disrupted by the fault. At Gatwick Airport, 281 of around 850 flights were affected. Manchester Airport saw 249 of its 650 flights hit, while at Birmingham, 101 of 300 flights were either delayed or cancelled. Luton, Stansted and Edinburgh in Scotland saw similar scenes, with thousands of passengers left waiting for their flights.

The disruption was not confined to the UK, spreading across European aviation. Flights from Dublin Airport in Ireland, as well as from Glasgow, Aberdeen and Belfast, faced heavy restrictions. According to Eurocontrol, several international flights were held at their airports of origin after being denied entry into UK airspace. A number of flights had to be diverted at the last minute, leading to large crowds at airports and disrupting passengers' travel plans.

The sudden halting of flights, and some pilots informing passengers of the technical fault, sparked rumours that this could be a major cyberattack. The speculation was widely discussed on social media as well. However, a NATS spokesperson firmly rejected these fears and rumours. The organisation clarified that the problem was caused solely by an internal technical fault in flight data processing, and that there was no evidence of a cyberattack.

The episode caused heavy losses for major airlines including British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair. According to data analytics firm Cirium, around 90 flights operating between Heathrow and Gatwick were cancelled outright. Ryanair said more than 50 of its flights were cancelled, disrupting travel for over 65,000 passengers. With aircraft and pilots left stranded in different locations, airlines warned that it could take 24 to 48 hours for flight operations to return fully to normal.