UK flights being delayed and cancelled as ‘technical issue’ hits air traffic control

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of air travellers faced delays on Monday after Britain's air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the United Kingdom.

Flight control operator National Air Traffic Services said it was experiencing an unexplained “technical issue” that could delay flights on Monday, the end of a holiday weekend and one of the busiest travel days of the year.

The service said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety” and that engineers were working to find and fix the fault.

It said UK airspace remained open.

It did not give an estimate of how long it would take to fix the problem, or what had caused it, but European air traffic authority Eurocontrol warned of “very high” delays because of a “flight data processing system failure” in the UK.

Scottish airline Loganair said there had been “a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems.”

“Although we are hopeful of being able to operate most intra-Scotland flights on the basis of local coordination and with a minimum of disruption, north-south and international flights may be subject to delays,” it said.

Airports both inside and outside the UK told passengers to expect delays and cancellations.

Heathrow, Europe's busiest air hub, said “national airspace issues” were causing disruption to flights, and advised passengers to check with their airline.

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