London's Heathrow hit by more flight cancelations after air traffic failure
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which provides air traffic control services for planes flying in UK airspace and the eastern part of the North Atlantic, said on Wednesday its systems were fully operational with capacity returning to normal after it switched to a back-up system.
The second outage in as many years at NATS also affected Gatwick Airport near London, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and other locations, resulting in 122 cancelations as of 1830 GMT on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Heathrow's website showed that at least 16 flights, including departures to Brussels and Toronto and arrivals from New York and Berlin, had been canceled on Thursday.
Heathrow, Britain's largest and Europe's busiest airport, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the latest cancelations.
Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon called on NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign, saying no lessons had been learnt since the August 2023 disruption caused by a malfunctioning in the automatic processing of flight plans.
NATS, which on Wednesday apologized to those affected by the failure, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a response to McMahon's comments.
Heathrow was also hit by a fire at a power sub-station in March which stranded thousands of passengers.
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Al Arabiya
17 hours ago
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No evidence of malign activity in UK travel disruption, says minister
A technical problem that affected over a hundred flights across UK airports on Wednesday was an isolated event with no evidence of malign activity, transport minister Heidi Alexander said, as airlines worked to clear the backlog on Thursday. National Air Traffic Services (NATS) restored its systems, with capacity returning to normal, late on Wednesday after switching to a back-up system following what it described as a radar-related failure. The second outage in recent years at NATS, which provides air traffic control services for planes in UK airspace and the eastern part of the North Atlantic, affected Heathrow and Gatwick airports in London, Edinburgh Airport, and other locations. On Thursday, NATS repeated its apology to those affected, and added that there was no evidence that the incident was cyber-related. 'I know that any disruption is frustrating for passengers. Flights are now resumed ... I will continue to receive regular updates,' Alexander wrote on social media platform X, following a meeting with NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe over the incident. Earlier on Thursday, Alexander said NATS was working closely with airlines and airports to clear the backlog. A total of 122 flights were cancelled as of 1830 GMT on Wednesday, with a further 23 cancelled as of 0730 GMT on Thursday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. At least 16 flights, including departures to Brussels and Toronto and arrivals from New York and Berlin, had been cancelled at Heathrow Airport, according to its website. The airport, Britain's largest and Europe's busiest, was hit by a fire at a power sub-station in March which stranded thousands of passengers. Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon called on NATS' Rolfe to resign, saying no lessons had been learnt since the August 2023 disruption caused by a malfunctioning in the automatic processing of flight plans.
Al Arabiya
21 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
London's Heathrow hit by more flight cancellations after air traffic failure
At least 16 flights to and from London's Heathrow Airport were cancelled on Thursday, a day after technical problems with Britain's air traffic control system caused widespread disruption across the country's airports. National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which provides air traffic control services for planes flying in UK airspace and the eastern part of the North Atlantic, said on Wednesday its systems were fully operational with capacity returning to normal after it switched to a back-up system. The second outage in as many years at NATS also affected Gatwick Airport near London, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and other locations, resulting in 122 cancellations as of 1830 GMT on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Heathrow's website showed that at least 16 flights, including departures to Brussels and Toronto and arrivals from New York and Berlin, had been cancelled on Thursday. Heathrow, Britain's largest and Europe's busiest airport, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the latest cancellations. Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon called on NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign, saying no lessons had been learnt since the August 2023 disruption caused by a malfunctioning in the automatic processing of flight plans. NATS, which on Wednesday apologized to those affected by the failure, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a response to McMahon's comments. Heathrow was also hit by a fire at a power sub-station in March which stranded thousands of passengers.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
London's Heathrow hit by more flight cancelations after air traffic failure
LONDON: At least 16 flights to and from London's Heathrow Airport were canceled on Thursday, a day after technical problems with Britain's air traffic control system caused widespread disruption across the country's airports. National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which provides air traffic control services for planes flying in UK airspace and the eastern part of the North Atlantic, said on Wednesday its systems were fully operational with capacity returning to normal after it switched to a back-up system. The second outage in as many years at NATS also affected Gatwick Airport near London, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and other locations, resulting in 122 cancelations as of 1830 GMT on Wednesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Heathrow's website showed that at least 16 flights, including departures to Brussels and Toronto and arrivals from New York and Berlin, had been canceled on Thursday. Heathrow, Britain's largest and Europe's busiest airport, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the latest cancelations. Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon called on NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign, saying no lessons had been learnt since the August 2023 disruption caused by a malfunctioning in the automatic processing of flight plans. NATS, which on Wednesday apologized to those affected by the failure, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a response to McMahon's comments. Heathrow was also hit by a fire at a power sub-station in March which stranded thousands of passengers.
