Hundreds of UK flights disrupted by air traffic control glitch

A technical fault in the United Kingdom’s air traffic control system disrupted flight operations on Tuesday, affecting a large number of scheduled services across the country.

The problem led to the cancellation of nearly 300 flights, with hundreds more delayed, according to flight‑tracking data. The disruption was reported at several major airports, including Heathrow, Stansted and London City, as well as at airports in Manchester, Birmingham, Scotland and other locations.

Airlines operating a range of routes were impacted. Carriers such as British Airways, EasyJet, KLM and Lufthansa reported that a number of their flights could not operate, particularly short‑haul services to European destinations. While departing flights faced cancellations and delays, arriving flights appeared to be largely unaffected.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) confirmed that engineers were working urgently to resolve the issue. An update from the agency indicated that a fix had been implemented and that the flight system was beginning to recover, and it issued an apology for the inconvenience caused to passengers.

The exact cause of the technical fault has not been identified. Passengers were advised to verify the status of their flights directly with the airlines as the situation continued to evolve.