Close X
Saturday, November 9, 2024
ADVT 
International

UK air traffic control says it has fixed a technical problem that sparked delays and cancellations

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Aug, 2023 10:40 AM
  • UK air traffic control says it has fixed a technical problem that sparked delays and cancellations

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of airline passengers faced delays on Monday after Britain's air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

More than three hours after it reported the “technical issue,” flight control operator National Air Traffic Services said it had “identified and remedied” the problem and flights could begin to return to normal. But scores of flights were canceled, and Heathrow Airport said its schedules would be “significantly disrupted” for the rest of the day.

Lyudmila Hristova said she and her husband had planned to attend a niece’s wedding in Bulgaria, but their flight from Heathrow was canceled.

“Now we are looking for some information on how we can arrange another flight,” she said. “It is so difficult, they just got us out of the airport, it was very rude. There was no information, just some leaflets and that’s it.”

NATS said the outage had hit its ability to process flight plans automatically, meaning the plans had to be input manually, a much slower process. It did not disclose the cause of the problem.

The service said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety" but that U.K. airspace remained open.

After fixing the problem, NATS said it was “working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible. Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance as we return to normal operations.”

Monday was a holiday for many in the U.K. and a date when many families return from vacations before the start of the school year.

European air traffic authority Eurocontrol warned of “very high” delays, and airports both inside and outside the U.K. told passengers to expect waits and cancellations. Passengers scheduled to fly to Britain from European airports said they were being told to expect delays of several hours or more.

Dozens of flights were canceled at Heathrow, Europe's busiest air hub, which urged passengers “to only travel to the airport if their flight is confirmed as still operating.”

“Teams across Heathrow are working as hard as they can to minimize the knock-on impacts and assist those whose journeys have been affected,” it said in a statement.

British Airways said it had to make “significant changes" to its schedule and advised passengers booked on short-haul flights Monday not to go to airports without confirming their flight status.

Aviation analyst Alastair Rosenschein, a former BA pilot, said the air traffic system appeared to have suffered “some kind of patchy failure as opposed to a total shutdown.”

He told Sky News that “the disruption will be quite severe at some airports" and some U.K.-bound flights would likely have to land in other European countries in order to reduce the flow of inbound planes.

MORE International ARTICLES

Why the arrest of Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan could push the country into chaos

Why the arrest of Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan could push the country into chaos
Footage of Khan being dragged out of court two days earlier sparked outrage among his supporters. Angry protesters torched buildings and vehicles. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif vowed a tough response to the attacks and government figures have already decried Khan's release.

Why the arrest of Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan could push the country into chaos

Indian-American mom finds teen daughter's body at bottom of cliff in Texas

Indian-American mom finds teen daughter's body at bottom of cliff in Texas
The mother used an app to track her daughter's phone, which led her to a wooded area near Heroes Stadium on Thousand Oaks, some 12 miles away from Reddy's school. She also reported the matter to the police, and as the officers responded, the mother spotted the daughter at the bottom of a cliff.

Indian-American mom finds teen daughter's body at bottom of cliff in Texas

Indian students in UK surpass all nations, including China: British High Commissioner

Indian students in UK surpass all nations, including China: British High Commissioner
This was a unique and prestigious occasion when the High Commissioner of the UK visited JGU for the first time and addressed students of international affairs, law and other disciplines, giving them a diplomatic and strategic overview of the relationship between the world's two important democracies.

Indian students in UK surpass all nations, including China: British High Commissioner

3 Indian-origin men jailed in UK for smuggling cannabis worth 1 mn pounds

3 Indian-origin men jailed in UK for smuggling cannabis worth 1 mn pounds
Three Indian-origin members of an organised crime group have been jailed for smuggling cannabis worth around 1 million pounds into the UK from Canada. Kuran Gill, Jag Singh and Govind Bahia, all in their 30s, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a 'class B' drug and were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court. 

3 Indian-origin men jailed in UK for smuggling cannabis worth 1 mn pounds

12 Indian-origin men, women convicted of money laundering in UK

12 Indian-origin men, women convicted of money laundering in UK
Sixteen people, including several men and women of Indian descent, have been convicted after a major investigation into a West London-based organised crime group involved in international money laundering and human smuggling, UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) said.  Members of the network smuggled in excess of GBP 42 million in cash out of the UK, making hundreds of trips to Dubai and the UAE between 2017 and 2019.

12 Indian-origin men, women convicted of money laundering in UK

Fresh turmoil looms in Pak as Imran's arrest sparks countrywide protests

Fresh turmoil looms in Pak as Imran's arrest sparks countrywide protests
Khan's arrest came a day after the military warned him against making "baseless allegations" after he again accused a senior army officer of plotting to kill him, The Express Tribune reported.

Fresh turmoil looms in Pak as Imran's arrest sparks countrywide protests