A widespread technical fault with Britain’s air traffic control infrastructure has caused significant disruption to outbound flights across the country.
The malfunction has resulted in delays and cancellations for passengers departing from numerous major hubs, with Heathrow, Manchester, and Edinburgh among the airports experiencing the most severe impact.
Inbound services to these locations remain operational, with only aircraft due to depart currently affected by the system failure.
The UK’s primary air navigation services provider, Nats, acknowledged the fault and indicated that technical specialists had been deployed to address the problem.
The organisation stated that its engineering teams were examining the issue on-site and committed to issuing further information once a resolution had been identified.
Representatives for Nats expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to travellers and recommended that those with confirmed bookings contact their respective carriers directly for the latest updates on individual services.
Heathrow confirmed the situation in an official communication, clarifying that the technical fault was confined to departing aircraft and that arrivals were continuing without interruption.
The west London hub offered apologies to those whose journeys had been affected and indicated its continued cooperation with Nats as efforts to restore normal operations continued.
Nats supplies air traffic management services to approximately 15 aerodromes throughout the United Kingdom, with several additional facilities also reporting operational difficulties attributable to the same technical fault.
Edinburgh confirmed that the issue had the potential to disrupt its scheduled services, while Jersey Airport and Belfast City Airport both issued warnings regarding potential knock-on effects for their operations.
Birmingham reported that the disruption was concentrated across airspace in the southern region of the country and advised passengers to proceed to the airport as planned while seeking information from their airline provider.
The Manchester Airport Group, which manages Stansted and East Midlands alongside its namesake hub, confirmed that all three of its facilities had experienced disruption stemming from the air traffic control malfunction.