Star Metro - UK airports face more disruption after air traffic control glitch

Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 said 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had already been axed, following 1,300 cancellations to and from UK airports on Tuesday.

Nearly all the flights cancelled on Wednesday were at Britain's busiest airport Heathrow in London, FlightRadar24 wrote on X.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said late Tuesday it was still working to resolve disruption following a "system issue".

"Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today's disruption," NATS posted on X.

"This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover."

Heathrow said late Tuesday that departures had resumed, after the "technical issue" forced the airport to suspend arrivals on Tuesday.

But it warned that "disruption is expected to continue", asking passengers in an X post to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.

NATS said earlier it had "resolved" the glitch that caused the disruption and was "working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights".

"We know this is hugely frustrating and apologise unreservedly," the organisation wrote on X.

Tuesday's chaos follow a technical glitch in July last year that saw scores of flights to and from the UK cancelled, prompting anger from airline chiefs.

Britain saw its worst air systems failure in years in 2023, with more than 700,000 passengers affected after hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled.

- 'Absolute nightmare' -

Heathrow in west London and Gatwick to the south of the UK capital confirmed they were affected.

"It's just an absolute nightmare down there," healthcare worker Josie Donoghue said of Gatwick after leaving the airport, having had to disembark her flight to Ireland after three hours stuck on the runway.

"Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz," she told Britain's domestic Press Association news agency.

Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports were also affected, while Dublin Aiport in Ireland said it had cancelled dozens of flights.

British Airways said it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights, impacting tens of thousands of its customers.

Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been disrupted and it had cancelled more than 50 flights.

Arsenal, due to play Napoli in the Champions League Wednesday in the southern Italian city, were forced to cancel a news conference ahead of the match after the team's flight was delayed.

British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on X she was "seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job".

But Ryanair COO Neal McMahon repeated his calls for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to be fired, accusing him of having again "failed UK travellers".

"Enough is enough, it's time for the UK government to intervene... and put somebody in charge who can do the job."

O.Lessard--SMC