UK Faces Major Flight Cancellations Due to Glitch

On Wednesday, over 150 flights were cancelled across the UK due to a technical glitch in the air traffic control system managed by the National Air Traffic Services (NATS). FlightRadar24 reported that 177 flights were axed, following 1,300 cancellations the previous day.

The majority of affected flights were at Heathrow Airport in London. NATS acknowledged the complexity of the recovery process and accepted full responsibility for the disruption.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander planned to meet with NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to discuss the situation. Ryanair's COO Neal McMahon called for Rolfe's resignation, citing repeated failures to serve UK travellers.

Although departures resumed at Heathrow, significant disruptions were expected to continue, affecting tens of thousands of passengers, particularly with British Airways. NATS stated that the glitch had been resolved and they were working to clear the backlog.

This incident follows a similar technical failure in July 2022, which had also caused widespread cancellations.