Air traffic control failure cancels hundreds of flights and brings travel chaos to U.K. airports

Air travel across the U.K. was thrown into severe disruption after a technical failure at NATS, the country’s main air traffic control provider, led to hundreds of flight cancellations and long delays at airports nationwide.

NATS said the fault was in its “flight processing system,” the platform used to manage flight plan information. Engineers put in place a fix, but the provider said recovery was “taking longer than hoped.” With planes and crews already out of position, the disruption quickly worked its way through schedules.

Heathrow, Manchester, East Midlands and Gatwick were among the airports affected. easyJet and British Airways reported delays and cancellations, while airports in Scotland and Ireland also saw related disruption.

Passengers described being left waiting for updates on the tarmac. Phil White, who was due to fly to Lanzarote, said his Gatwick plane had been stuck for hours; pilots made announcements every 20 minutes that they were still waiting for information. On a delayed Virgin Atlantic flight to Orlando, aspiring pilot Chloe Davis took the opportunity to explore the cockpit.

Ryanair said about 65,000 of its passengers had been delayed by up to eight hours. British Airways warned of a “significant knock-on impact” for customers and colleagues, saying the fallout would take time to clear.

The backlog is not limited to the U.K. Aircraft and crews are scattered across Europe, meaning cancellations could continue even after the technical issue is fixed. Passengers have been urged to check with their airlines before traveling to the airport.