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Britain’s air traffic control service encountered a “technical issue” that caused significant disruptions to hundreds of flights to and from the country.
Early reports said planes leaving and flying to Britain were grounded and consequently, thousands of passengers got stuck on the tarmac all over the UK and abroad.
Reports said the UK’s airspace remained practically closed for several hours.
The official version
The National Air Traffic Service (NATS) reported that the issue affected their ability to automatically process flight plans.
As a result, flight plans were being manually entered, leading to processing limitations.
NATS said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety” across its airports.
It also insisted that British airspace wasn’t closed. NATS said only the number of departing flights were restricted to ensure safety while fixing the technical issue.
NATS didn’t elaborate on the nature of the “technical issue”.
A bank holiday
The disruptions occurred during a peak travel period, coinciding with the “bank holiday” in Britain, resulting in delays and uncertainties for travellers.
The European air control agency, Eurocontrol, indicated that Britain was facing a “flight data processing system failure” with substantial individual delays.
Confusion and cancellation
More than 500 flights were cancelled and hundreds others were delayed by up to eight hours, BBC reported.
Travellers found themselves stranded in airports or on runways with lengthy delays.
The number of flight departures during the three days of holiday weekend was scheduled to be 10% higher than the same period the year before and 83% higher than in 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic drastically reduced air travel.
In a similar incident in 2014, European flights were disrupted for hours in December 2014 because of a technical problem at an air traffic control centre in Swanwick, England.
Early reports said planes leaving and flying to Britain were grounded and consequently, thousands of passengers got stuck on the tarmac all over the UK and abroad.
Reports said the UK’s airspace remained practically closed for several hours.
The official version
The National Air Traffic Service (NATS) reported that the issue affected their ability to automatically process flight plans.
As a result, flight plans were being manually entered, leading to processing limitations.
NATS said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety” across its airports.
It also insisted that British airspace wasn’t closed. NATS said only the number of departing flights were restricted to ensure safety while fixing the technical issue.
NATS didn’t elaborate on the nature of the “technical issue”.
A bank holiday
The disruptions occurred during a peak travel period, coinciding with the “bank holiday” in Britain, resulting in delays and uncertainties for travellers.
The European air control agency, Eurocontrol, indicated that Britain was facing a “flight data processing system failure” with substantial individual delays.
Confusion and cancellation
More than 500 flights were cancelled and hundreds others were delayed by up to eight hours, BBC reported.
Travellers found themselves stranded in airports or on runways with lengthy delays.
The number of flight departures during the three days of holiday weekend was scheduled to be 10% higher than the same period the year before and 83% higher than in 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic drastically reduced air travel.
In a similar incident in 2014, European flights were disrupted for hours in December 2014 because of a technical problem at an air traffic control centre in Swanwick, England.
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