UK airports disrupted by air traffic control issue

Britain's air traffic controllers reported a technical issue that disrupted flights at major airports in London and elsewhere in the country on Wednesday, though later said the issue had been resolved.

The National AirTraffice Service, or NATS, said the glitch happened at its control center at Swanwick, southwest of London, and required the service to limit the number of aircraft flying to ensure safety. Gatwick Airport said the issue affected outbound flights across the U.K. Some inbound flights were put into holding patterns or diverted.

"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," NATS, the country's air traffic control provider, said in a post on X.

Heathrow Airport said all departures had been paused, and Gatwick Airport said the issue had affected all outbound flights across the UK.

"There are currently no departures from London Gatwick while the situation is being resolved," it said in a statement on X.

Passengers walk at Gatwick Airport. File

London City Airport also posted on X that flights there were affected by the same issue.

Edinburgh Airport also said departures were currently being held awaiting further information from NATS.

In August 2023, flights across Britain were disrupted after the automatic processing of flight plans malfunctioned.

Britain's aviation regulator last year said NATS needed to review its contingency plans for outages after the

meltdown, after airline bosses said it cost them over 100 million pounds ($133 million) in refunds and compensation.

Reuters / AP