Britain's air traffic control service said on Tuesday that more than 400 flights to and from airports across the country had been canceled due to a "technical issue," in the latest disruption to air travel.
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According to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, 425 flights to and from UK airports had been canceled by 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) due to the outage.
Britain's air navigation service provider NATS said on X that it had "implemented a solution to the issue and our flight-planning system is beginning to recover."
"We continue to work closely with airlines and airports to restore operations," NATS added, apologizing to passengers affected by the disruption.
The outage follows a technical failure in July last year that led to the cancellation of dozens of flights to and from the United Kingdom and prompted criticism from airline officials. In 2023, the country experienced its worst air traffic control systems failure in nearly a decade, causing hundreds of flights to be delayed or canceled and affecting more than 700,000 passengers.
Heathrow Airport, Britain's largest and busiest airport, located west of London, confirmed that it was among those affected by Tuesday's disruption, along with Gatwick Airport south of the capital.
Airports in Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh were also affected, while Dublin Airport in Ireland reported the cancellation of dozens of flights.
British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on social media that she was aware of "a technical issue affecting flights at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick," adding that technicians had identified the problem and were working to fix it.
"I recognize this will cause frustration for passengers and apologize for that," Alexander said, urging travelers to check the status of their flights with their airlines.
Source: AFP
