Airports across England continue to face impacts after a NATS system malfunction resulted in the cancellation of over 1,750 flights. Heathrow and Gatwick warn that it will take time for air travel to return to normal.
On September 9, 2569, at 13.45:2 PM, Bloomberg News reported that air travel in the United Kingdom continued to face severe disruptions for a second day after a technical problem with the air traffic control system on Tuesday resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights at Heathrow Airport and other major airports. This is one of the most serious air disruptions in the UK in years.
Data from Cirium indicates that as of Wednesday morning, 153 flights had been cancelled, comprising 55 outbound and 98 inbound flights. This follows the cancellation of more than 1,750 flights on Tuesday.
The impact, which dragged on into a second day, reflects the complexity of restoring air traffic systems after a major disruption, as an average of around 8,000 flights per day use UK airspace.
With numerous flights cancelled or delayed, aircraft and crew are displaced from their original scheduled positions. While airlines have had to add some flights to expedite the return of stranded passengers, restoring to normal schedules takes time.
Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, stated that while operations are gradually recovering, passengers should be prepared for continued impacts as airlines still need to realign aircraft and crew back into service.
The airport has increased the number of staff in passenger terminals to help support the recovery of services.
Gatwick Airport , another major airport serving London, also stated that it will take some time before operations can fully return to normal.
The disruption on Tuesday stemmed from a technical problem at NATS, the company that manages the UK's air traffic control system, which is based in Swanwick, Hampshire. The British government has ruled out the possibility that the incident was caused by a cyberattack.
NATS stated that the system recovery process was extremely complex and created problems for the entire air traffic network, requiring time for recovery.
The latest incident comes after the UK's aviation system has faced several technical problems in recent years.
Last summer, an undisclosed radar system problem forced the country's airspace to close. Three years ago, another NATS system malfunction disrupted air traffic, stranding numerous aircraft, crews, and passengers.
The NATS operations centre at Swanwick is responsible for controlling flights traveling through the airspace over England and Wales up to the Scottish border, including low-altitude air traffic of incoming and outgoing flights at London airports.
The system supports approximately 2.5 million flights per year, or around 250 million passengers, traveling through UK airspace.
Heathrow experienced its biggest disruption in decades early last year after a fire in a nearby area caused the airport's power system to shut down, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Located southwest of London, this airport handles approximately 1,400 flights and around 200,000 passengers daily, with an average of about 40 takeoffs per hour during peak hours.
The latest disruptions add further pressure on Middle Eastern airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, whose operations have already faced strain in recent months due to the impact of the Iran-Iran conflict.
Heathrow is considered one of the most important aviation hubs for airlines from the Persian Gulf, with Emirates alone operating approximately 12 flights a day to various London airports, many of which are operated by the large Airbus A380 aircraft.
Reference: www.bloomberg.com
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