By Ado Oyeyemi
Air travellers across the United Kingdom faced fresh disruption on Wednesday as more than 150 flights were cancelled following a technical failure that crippled the country’s air traffic control system.
Flight-tracking platform, FlightRadar24, reported that 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had been cancelled, coming a day after about 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were affected.
Heathrow Airport in London, the country’s busiest aviation hub, accounted for the overwhelming majority of the latest cancellations.
The National Air Traffic Services, NATS, said it was continuing efforts to restore normal operations after what it described as a “system issue”.
NATS said the recovery process had proved complicated because of the impact of the disruption on the wider aviation network.
“This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover,” the organisation said.
The crisis prompted Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to schedule a meeting with NATS chief executive, Martin Rolfe, on Wednesday.
Rolfe told Sky News that he accepted “full responsibility” for the disruption but refused to disclose whether he was considering resigning.
Alexander had earlier demanded assurances that the incident would result in lessons being learnt and that the systems supporting the country’s aviation industry were fit for purpose.
However, Ryanair Chief Operating Officer, Neal McMahon, renewed his demand for Rolfe’s removal, accusing the NATS boss of failing British travellers.
McMahon called on the government to intervene and appoint someone capable of managing the country’s air traffic control system.
Heathrow Airport said flight departures had resumed late Tuesday after the technical fault forced it to temporarily halt arrivals.
Despite the resumption, the airport warned passengers that significant disruption could continue and advised them to confirm their flight status with their airlines before travelling.
British Airways also cautioned that the cancellations were having a major knock-on effect, with tens of thousands of its passengers affected.
NATS said the technical fault itself had been resolved but added that efforts were continuing to clear the backlog created by the disruption.
The latest incident has revived concerns about the resilience of Britain’s aviation infrastructure.
A similar technical failure in July last year resulted in the cancellation of numerous flights and drew criticism from airline executives.
Britain also experienced one of its most serious air traffic control failures in 2023, when hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled, disrupting the journeys of more than 700,000 passengers.
Passengers caught up in the latest disruption described chaotic scenes at affected airports.
A healthcare worker, Josie Donoghue, told the Press Association that her experience at Gatwick Airport was an “absolute nightmare” after she was forced to leave her aircraft bound for Ireland following a three-hour wait on the runway.
She said navigating her way out of the airport was extremely difficult amid the disruption.
Other airports, including Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh, were also affected, while Dublin Airport in Ireland reported the cancellation of dozens of flights.
Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been affected by the disruption, with over 50 of its flights cancelled.
The aviation crisis also disrupted Arsenal’s preparations for their Champions League encounter with Napoli in southern Italy on Wednesday.
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The English club was forced to cancel its scheduled pre-match press conference after the team’s flight was delayed by the ongoing disruption.
