Major disruptions hit flights in and out of Britain’s main airports Tuesday after a severe technical failure struck the systems of NATS, the country’s national air traffic control provider.
1+According to current reports, roughly 600 flights worldwide have been affected so far, creating an air blockade where planes can neither depart from Britain’s paralyzed airports nor land at them. El Al also announced it’s canceling its flights on the route due to the situation.
NATS said in an official statement that a problem was identified in the flight processing system and that the company’s engineers are working urgently to resolve it, but stressed that airspace is restricted and a full return to normal operations is expected to take considerable time.
1+Heathrow Airport, Britain’s largest, confirmed it’s working with air traffic authorities to resolve the failure that caused massive cancellations across the flight schedule. So far, hundreds of flights have already been canceled at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, and airlines like British Airways and EasyJet are reporting a “domino effect” of disruptions impacting airports across Europe.
Many passengers remain stuck in terminals with no ability to move. This marks another in a series of technical failures in Britain’s air traffic control systems in recent years—similar incidents in the past cost airlines tens of millions of pounds in compensation and caused delays that lasted for days around the world.