UK air traffic control glitch disrupts Air India’s flight services

Air India reported flight disruptions after a technical fault in Britain’s NATS air traffic control system forced cancellations, delays and diversions across UK airports. Over 1,000 flights were affected, while NATS resolved the issue and began clearing the backlog

New Delhi: Air India on Wednesday said that it faced disruptions after a technical fault at Britain’s air traffic control provider NATS affected operations at airports across the United Kingdom.

Taking to the social media platform X, the airline said it had been forced to divert, delay or cancel multiple flights scheduled to operate to and from UK airports following the disruption. It further warned that the impact could extend to some of its other services as aircraft and crew were left out of position because of the disruption.

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It advised passengers to check their flight status before travelling to the airport. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are making every effort to minimise disruptions as much as possible,” Air India said in a travel advisory on X.

Over 1,000 flights were cancelled across Britain after the technical failure disrupted departures and arrivals at major airports, according to flight-tracking data. NATS — which manages air traffic control across Britain — said the disruption was caused by a technical problem with its flight processing system. In addition, the issue affected several airports, including London’s Heathrow, Edinburgh and Manchester.

NATS later said it had implemented a technical fix and that the system issue had been resolved but warned that clearing the backlog of flights would take time. “Our system issue is now resolved. We are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights,” NATS said.

Heathrow said it was working closely with NATS to minimise the impact on passengers and flight schedules. Moreover, the disruption also affected flights between Britain and Ireland, with Dublin Airport warning passengers that services to and from the UK could be impacted. British Airways said it was experiencing disruption because of the technical failure affecting the national air traffic control system.