Air traffic is blocked at several airports in Great Britain due to a flight management system failure. According to British media reports, the inconveniences also concern the London airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
The origin of the fault
The British air traffic control agency Nats announced that the source of the chaos had been discovered. «We determined that the problem was in our flight processing system. Our engineers are on site and working urgently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible,” it said in a statement.
The government: «We apologize to the passengers»
Transport Minister Heidi Alexander confirmed that work is underway to repair the fault. “I know it will be frustrating for passengers and I’m sorry,” he added in a post on X.
Hiccups, regular landings
Traffic is not completely blocked, but proceeds in fits and starts. Departures resumed at Heathrow just after lunchtime, but were then halted again. The landings, however, continued regularly. “The airspace is open, but it will take some time to return to normality,” explained the Nats.