Travel chaos at UK airports with over 1,000 flights canceled due to air traffic control issues

LONDON (AP) — An air traffic control problem disrupted travel across Britain on Tuesday, canceling more than 1,000 flights and leaving passengers stranded for hours on airport runways and in terminals, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services said it had resolved a problem in its flight processing system in the evening, but delays spread to 15 UK airports and beyond as airlines and airports worked to clear a huge backlog of delayed flights.

Josie Donoghue spent three hours stuck on a plane at Gatwick before her Ryanair flight to Ireland was cancelled.

“Going through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz,” he said, referring to the infamous former island prison in San Francisco Bay. “It’s an absolute nightmare down there. That’s the only word I can use to describe it.”

Departures have resumed at London Heathrow but the busy airport has suspended arrivals for the rest of the night due to the disruption and warned of further delays.

Passengers on a British Airways flight that was due to fly to Baltimore disembarked after four hours on the ground at Heathrow. During the long delay, flight attendants served pasta and chicken curry while patient passengers watched movies or strolled up and down the aisles.

But the passengers later learned that their problems were far from solved. There was chaos in the baggage claim area and they were told that no one could help them and make claims for their bags.

British Airways said it had been forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights. Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers were disrupted and it canceled more than 50 scheduled flights.

“The severity of the issue means there will be a significant knock-on impact,” a British Airways spokesperson said. “This incident was completely out of our control and was incredibly frustrating for our customers and colleagues, with aircraft and crews found to be misplaced.”

Some passengers took to social media to complain about being stuck on planes for hours and express frustration at a lack of communication from airlines.

Affected airports include Stansted and City in London, as well as those in Manchester, Birmingham, Gatwick and Scotland. They warned passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline.

Related