Flights were disrupted across Scotland and northern England this morning because of a ‘technical issue’ at an air traffic control centre.
A National Air Traffic Services (NATS) spokesman said: ‘Our engineers are continuing to investigate the issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland.
‘Airports south of Manchester are broadly unaffected, however flights heading north and flights departing Scottish airports are currently subject to some delay.
‘Passengers should check with their airlines. This is unrelated to the issue two weeks ago. We apologise for the disruption.’
A Ryanair statement said there were ‘delays to/from the UK’ today ‘due to yet another NATS Air Traffic Control IT equipment failure’.
The airline added: ‘We have been advised of a NATS air traffic control equipment failure today affecting the airspace above Scotland/Northern England.
‘As a result, we expect some delays to flights to/from the UK and Ireland. Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling to/from the UK and Ireland on Mon 21 Sep should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.’
An easyJet spokesman said: ‘A Nats Air Traffic Control system failure in its Prestwick Centre is causing delays to flights with some unable to operate.
‘This, once again, calls into question the resilience of Nats’ systems and demonstrates the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures.’
And a British Airways spokesman said: ‘Yet another technical fault with NATS means some of our customers are likely to experience disruption to their travel plans today.
‘This is disappointing, and whilst it is an issue that is entirely out of our control, we’re doing everything we can to limit the impact on customers and are keeping them updated.’
A London City Airport spokesman said: ‘We are experiencing some disruption due to an issue at NATS Prestwick. We are monitoring the situation closely and working with NATS as they resolve the issue.
Passengers wait to take off on an easyJet flight this morning as services are delayed again
‘If you’re travelling today, please check with your airline for the latest information on your flight. Our friendly LCY colleagues are in the terminal today as usual to help your journey run smoothly.’
A Manchester Airport statement said: ‘An air traffic control system operated by NATS has been affected by a technical issue causing delays to flights from some UK airport.
‘Passengers due to travel today are advised to keep an eye out for updates from their airlines.’
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited warned flights were being impacted across all the airports the company operates – including Dundee, Inverness and Islay.
It said: ‘Due to a technical issue at Prestwick, flight schedules are currently being impacted across all our airports. Please contact your airline for the latest flight information.’
It comes two weeks after an air traffic control issue on September 8 led to more than 2,000 flights being cancelled at airports including London Heathrow and Gatwick.
A preliminary investigation by NATS found this was caused by a fault in the software that allocates codes to individual aircraft – and not by ‘any incorrect actions’.
The fault caused flights both in and out of the UK to be axed – impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers with disruption continuing into the following day.
Under-fire Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe faced calls to resign and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the disruption was ‘completely unacceptable’.
Last July, a ‘radar-related issue’ caused an air traffic control failure which disrupted thousands of passengers and forced the cancellation of more than 160 flights.
In August 2023, more than 700,000 passengers suffered disruption when flights were grounded at UK airports due to a NATS technical glitch while processing a flight plan.
More to follow
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