Technical Glitch Disrupts Flights Across the UK, Causing Major Delays

A significant technical issue at an air traffic control center near London on Wednesday disrupted all flights departing from the United Kingdom, leading to widespread delays at airports nationwide. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) reported that an unspecified technical failure led to the suspension of all aircraft departures at 4:30 PM local time (GMT). Fortunately, their engineers managed to restore the affected system shortly afterward, allowing the resumption of normal operations. Minutes post-restoration, London Gatwick Airport announced via its social media account that flights were departing again, although some operations would still face delays. In a precautionary measure, the UK air traffic agency limited the number of planes flying over the London control area to ensure safety. Other major airports in the British capital, including Heathrow and Stansted, also experienced disruptions due to this technical incident, as did airports across the UK such as Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh. Passengers bore the brunt of the delays; Argentine citizen Carlos Gil, who was traveling from Heathrow to Bilbao, experienced a delay of over an hour and a half while on the runway. He was informed by crew members that a radar issue was the cause of the disruption, and they anticipated further delays of at least three hours due to a backlog of planes waiting for take-off despite the system appearing to be back online. This latest incident follows a series of disruptions in British commercial aviation in recent months. Notably, a fire at a substation on March 21 forced London Heathrow Airport, the busiest in Europe, to close for a significant part of the day, resulting in the cancellation of over 1,300 flights and the diversion of numerous aircraft to other airports within the UK and mainland Europe. Stay updated by following El Huffpost for the latest news. You can download our mobile APP for both Android and iOS. Related Sources: • Source 1 • Source 2