A technical problem in the air traffic control system of the United Kingdom has forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights at the country's main airports. The incident has affected, among others, the London airports of Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as those in Manchester and Birmingham, while the system began to recover, according to the British manager NATS.
"We have implemented a solution and our flight system is beginning to recover. We are continuing to work closely with our airline and airport customers on the recovery," it noted in a recent message on social media.
In a later post, the Secretary of Transport, Heidi Alexander, indicated that she is aware of the incident and that engineers are "solving it at this moment." "I know this will be frustrating for passengers and I apologize," she added.
In addition to the major airports, numerous regional airfields have suffered disruptions in their operations, including Jersey, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Southampton, Belfast, and Edinburgh, according to DPA.
With data from Flightradar24, collected by Europa Press, 425 flights are counted as canceled this Tuesday afternoon due to the failure, with a particularly high incidence in easyJet and British Airways, with 137 and 111 operations canceled, respectively. Following them are KLM (26), Eurowings (22), and Ryanair (21).
"We will do everything possible to minimize the impact of this situation on our customers, which includes offering passengers of flights that cannot operate different options, such as a free transfer or a refund, as well as meals and hotel accommodation for those who need it," easyJet pointed out in a statement.