Abu Dhabi’s flagship carrier on Monday issued a passenger advisory following a breakdown in Britain’s air traffic control system. The airline said, “Etihad Airways is advising passengers travelling to and from London and Manchester that there may be flight delays due to the ongoing Flight Data Processing System failure affecting all airlines operating in the UK.”
Flights using UK airspace were delayed or cancelled for several hours due to what Britain’s National Air Traffic Service (Nats) said was a technical issue. However, Nats announced later the same evening that the issue had been identified and remedied.
Nats had earlier had to restrict the flow of aircraft and manually input flight plans after the issue affected its system’s ability to automatically process flight plans, with airlines and airports warning of delays and cancellations.
“We have identified and remedied the technical issue affecting our flight planning system this morning. We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible,” Nats said in a statement. “Our engineers will carefully monitor the system’s performance as we return to normal operations.”
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In light of the issue, Etihad Airways issued the precautionary warning stating that all flights are currently planned to operate as scheduled, “However, we are working closely with airport authorities and will inform guests immediately if there is any change,” added the statement.
A spokesperson for London Heathrow said the airport was working with Nats and other airport partners to minimise the impact on passengers. In contrast, south of London, Gatwick said it was seeing multiple delays and cancellations.
Scottish airline Loganair said there had been a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems. British Airways said its flights were severely disrupted and had made “significant changes” to its schedule.
At the same time, other airlines, including Ryanair, also said some flights to and from the UK would be delayed or cancelled. Manchester Airport and London Stansted were among the many UK airports that warned of potential flight disruption.
Dublin Airport said the issues resulted in delays and cancellations of some flights into and out of the Irish capital. Many passengers took to social media to say they were stuck on planes on the tarmac waiting to take off or being held in airport buildings in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel and elsewhere on a traditionally busy travel day as the school holidays draw close.
One Reuters witness who was held on the tarmac at Budapest for two hours before being taken off the plane said their pilot told passengers they could face an 8-12 hour delay.
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