UK flight chaos as hundreds of flights cancelled

Air travel across the United Kingdom was severely disrupted on Tuesday after a technical failure in the flight-processing system operated by the country’s air traffic control provider, NATS.

More than 400 flights were cancelled and hundreds more delayed, affecting major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Stansted. Heathrow alone saw around 100 cancellations and 367 delays.

NATS said it had identified the problem and engineers were working to restore normal operations.

Although UK airspace remained open and flights continued to depart, the company warned that recovery would take time because of the resulting backlog.

British Airways, easyJet and other airlines were among those affected.

The disruption also caused knock-on delays at airports elsewhere in Europe. Passengers were advised to check their flight status with their airlines before travelling to the airport.