Traffic control systems restored, but continued disruption expected, UK transport secretary says
UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander says in a post on X that she believes the traffic control systems “have now been restored,” although she warns about “continued disruption … expected.”
“I am aware of a technical issue which impacted @NATS operations causing travel disruption this afternoon.
I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.”
Key events
Jakub Krupa
Since Ryanair’s McMahon mentioned lessons learned from the 2023 incident, let’s take a quick look at what they were.
Publishing its review of the 2023 outage that affected 700,000 passengers, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said in November last year that Nats should “review its contingency and engineering resource management arrangements” and look at “providing earlier notification to airlines and airports of possible disruption.”
It also added that airlines and airports should “review the adequacy of the support available to passengers during significant disruption, in particular to vulnerable passengers and those travelling with children, and to develop a standardised suite of passenger information during major incidents.”
I think it’s fair to say we can expect some of these issues to be given more attention again in the weeks ahead as a result of today’s outage.
Ryanair calls for Nats’ chief executive to resign
Budget airline Ryanair has called for Nats’ chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign after today’s outage, PA news agency reported, warning that “no lessons have been learnt” after the August 2023 system outage (16:52).
In a very blunt statement, Ryanair’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon said:
“It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.
Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace meaning thousands of passengers’ travel plans have been disrupted.
It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the Aug 2023 Nats system outage, and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe’s incompetence.
If Nats CEO Martin Rolfe fails to resign on the back of this latest Nats system outage that has disrupted thousands of passengers yet again, then UK transport minister Heidi Alexander must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform of Nats’ shambolic ATC service, so that airlines and passengers are no longer forced to endure these preventable delays caused by persistent Nats failures.”
The Eurocontrol’s live traffic map – previously showing an orange alert over the UK – has now cleared, indicating that the issue is now resolved.
BA faces restrictions on number of flights at Heathrow
British Airways still faces the number of inbound and outbound flights at Heathrow restricted at just over two-thirds of the usual flow rate, PA news agency reported.
The company said it can only operate 32 flights per hour until 7.15pm before it is expected to be able to return to the usual level of 45 flights per hour.
Issues resolved, but there may be some ongoing impact, Stansted warns
London Stansted airport is the latest to issue an update to passengers, saying that while the issue has been resolved, “there may be some ongoing impact to flights schedules so passengers due to travel are advised to consult their airlines for updates.”
Jakub Krupa
Worth stressing even a small and time-limited outage in what is an incredibly congested London area and beyond can cause substantial disruptions as flights are diverted – and out of position – and/or delayed and may struggle to complete their normal, packed schedule.
‘Systems fully operational’ with traffic capacity ‘returning to normal’
National air traffic services, or Nats, has just confirmed that “our systems are fully operational and air traffic capacity is returning to normal.”
It added:
“Departures at all airports have resumed and we are working with affected airlines and airports to clear the backlog safely.
We apologise to everyone affected by this issue.”
Traffic control systems restored, but continued disruption expected, UK transport secretary says
UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander says in a post on X that she believes the traffic control systems “have now been restored,” although she warns about “continued disruption … expected.”
“I am aware of a technical issue which impacted @NATS operations causing travel disruption this afternoon.
I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.”
Edinburgh Airport just confirmed its departures have also resumed, but added that the disruption “will take time to work through”.
More flights are now taking off from airports that previously reported being affected by the disruption, with American Airlines’ AAL137 to Los Angeles departing with a delay of just over two hours from London Heathrow just moments ago.
UK Civil Aviation Authority is actively directing passengers to its guidance for passengers affected by delays, saying “remember that you have passenger rights if this happens.”
Gatwick says issue ‘resolved’, but ‘some delays’ expected as operations resume
London Gatwick airport has now reported that the issue impacting outbound flights “has now been resolved,” but warned that “there are some delays at London Gatwick while operations resume.”
First flights seen taking off from impacted airports
Flightradar24 data is now showing first flights departing from airports that previously reported disruptions, with British Airways SHT8W flight from London Heathrow Airport to Edinburgh taking off a moment ago, with about 55 minutes delay.
Similar incidents in 2023, 2014 – context
Back in 2023, a previous glitch affecting Nats, the company that provides national air traffic control services in the UK, meant the system was out of action for several hours causing disruption to more than 700,000 passengers.
Here is what we know about what happened in 2023:
There was also a similar outage at Nats national centre in Swanwick, Hampshire in 2014, that resulted in dozens of flights being cancelled and delayed.
Jakub Krupa
The scale of the disruption caused by the outage is yet to become clear, but it’s worth remembering that this is happening during what is a very busy summer period, and so could have knock on effects on what is usually an already very tight flight schedule.
Air traffic authority ‘in process of resuming normal operations’
We now have a further update from Nats, saying it has restored the system affected by the outage and will work with airlines to minimise disruption caused.
Here is their statement:
“Our engineers have now restored the system that was affected this afternoon. We are in the process of resuming normal operations in the London area.
We continue to work closely with airline and airport customers to minimise disruption. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”
Edinburgh Airport reports disruption due to technical outage
Edinburgh Airport has now reported being affected by the technical outage too.
In a post on X, it said:
“Due to a technical issue impacting NATS, all departures from Edinburgh Airport are currently being held. We are waiting for further information from NATS and will provide updates when possible. Please check with your airline for the latest information on your flight.”
Flights across southern UK affected due to traffic control issues – Flightradar24
Flightradar24 tracking service reported earlier that “as per Eurocontrol, technical issues have closed the London CTA, affecting flights across the southern UK.”
Air traffic control issue affecting UK airports near London
UK flights in the London area are affected by delays after Nats, the UK air traffic control authority, said it was restricting flights due to a “technical issue” at NATS Swanwick air traffic control centre “in order to ensure safety, which is always our first priority.”
In a statement on social media, it added:
“Our engineers are working hard to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and we are working closely with airlines to help minimise disruption.
At this stage we cannot say how long it will be before operations are back to normal.”
Gatwick Airport reported impact on all outbound flights across the UK, while London City Airport said “flights in and out of London airports – including London City Airport – might be delayed or subject to cancellation.”
