London
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Outbound flights from UK airports were disrupted by technical issues with air traffic control on Wednesday, according to several airports.
UK Airports – Posted on X, where flights from transport hubs have been suspended, including Edinburgh Airport in Scotland, Newcastle Airport in North England, and Gatwick Airport in London. More airports posted posts saying flights were delayed.
According to London’s Gatwick Airport, inbound flights were still able to land. Surveillance site Flightradar24 indicated that at one point it had not taken off from the UK airport, but the plane was later seen departing from several hubs.
The flight was affected after the air traffic control centre, which controls 200,000 square miles of airspace, experienced “technical issues,” the country’s National Air Traffic Service (NAT) said in a statement. The engineers later added that they were able to restore the affected systems quickly.
“We are working closely with our airline and airport customers to minimize disruptions and we are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused,” Natt said.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) posted to X to remind passengers of their rights if flights are delayed or cancelled.
Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair appears to be taking a swipe at NATS CEO, giving him a name while responding to news stories about delays.
Wednesday wasn’t the first time that UK airspace has been affected by delays this year.
Back in March, more than 1,300 flights around the world were affected after a fire broke out at an electrical engine near London’s Heathrow Airport, the country’s largest travel hub.
Heathrow was closed for 18 hours, and the airline cost tens of millions of pounds and delves into thousands of passengers.
This story has been updated in development.
