Technical glitch cancels around 1,100 flights in Britain and disrupts airport operations

The UK’s Air Traffic Control service announced that a technical fault led to the cancellation of approximately 1,100 flights to and from British airports, before it could resolve the issue and restore normal operations.

In a post on the platform X, the agency stated that recovering from the system outage took longer than hoped, noting that efforts were underway at maximum capacity to reduce the backlog of flights.

The agency described the incident as “extremely frustrating” and apologized to passengers and airlines.

Several major airports were affected by the disruption, including Heathrow, the UK’s largest and busiest airport, as well as Gatwick, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Edinburgh. Dublin Airport in Ireland also announced the cancellation of dozens of flights.

In the same context, British Airways announced the cancellation or rerouting of more than 100 flights, affecting tens of thousands of passengers. Meanwhile, the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair stated that more than 65,000 of its passengers were impacted by the disruptions, and that it had canceled over 50 flights.

This outage follows a technical failure last July that led to the cancellation of dozens of flights to and from the United Kingdom. The worst disruption recorded by the country’s air traffic control systems occurred in 2023, causing delays or cancellations for hundreds of flights carrying more than 700,000 passengers.