London: Air travel across Britain was thrown into chaos on Tuesday (local time) after an air traffic control system problem led to more than 1,000 flight cancellations and left passengers stranded for hours at airports and on aircraft.

The disruption affected at least 15 UK airports and caused delays beyond Britain as airlines and airports struggled to clear a large backlog of flights.

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Air traffic control system problem resolved

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it had resolved an issue with its flight processing system by Tuesday evening. However, the disruption continued to cause delays as airlines worked to reposition aircraft and crews and resume normal operations.

London Heathrow Airport resumed departures but suspended arrivals for the remainder of the night. The airport warned passengers to expect further delays.

Passengers stranded for hours

Passengers faced lengthy delays at several airports, with some forced to remain on aircraft for hours.

Josie Donoghue spent three hours on a plane at Gatwick Airport before her Ryanair flight to Ireland was cancelled.

“Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz,” she said, describing the situation as an “absolute nightmare”.

At Heathrow, passengers on a British Airways flight bound for Baltimore were kept on the ground for four hours before being asked to disembark. During the delay, cabin crew served pasta and chicken curry while passengers watched movies or walked around the aircraft.

The disruption continued after passengers left the plane, with severe congestion reported at the baggage claim area. Some passengers said they were told to file claims for their missing bags.
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Airlines cancel and divert flights

British Airways said it had been forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights because of the disruption.

Ryanair said more than 65,000 passengers had been affected and that it had cancelled more than 50 scheduled flights.

“The severity of the issue means there will be a significant knock-on impact,” a British Airways spokesperson said, adding that the incident was outside the airline’s control and had left aircraft and crew in the wrong locations.

EasyJet also said some of its flights were unable to operate and warned that the system failure had caused delays across Europe.
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Disruption hits airports across Britain

The affected airports included London’s Stansted and London City, along with Manchester, Birmingham, Gatwick and airports across Scotland.

Passengers were advised to check their flight status directly with their airlines before travelling.

Many travellers also took to social media to complain about being stuck on aircraft for hours and criticised airlines over what they described as a lack of communication during the disruption.

AP