Britain · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
NATS Technical Glitch Grounds Departing Flights at Heathrow and Gatwick, Affecting 15 UK Airports
Departures grounded at Heathrow and Gatwick due to NATS technical fault hitting 15 UK airports NATS investigating technical issue; engineers on site fixing disruptions to departures
How specifically the NATS fault location is described.
11 of 12 outlets skipped it: heathrow had an earlier bird-strike affecting arrivals runway.
14outlets compared
Same story, two versions
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LBC
“NATS said disruption was expected after experiencing difficulties with its "flight processing system" at its Swanwick centre.”Read the original ↗
The Guardian
“Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time.”Read the original ↗
LBC emphasises the Swanwick flight processing system; other outlets broadly cite NATS technical glitches and departure impacts without that added location deta…
NATS glitch grounds departures
A technical fault at National Air Traffic Services (NATS) led to the suspension of departing flights at major UK airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, with departures from 15 major UK airports grounded following a failure within air traffic control systems.
“NATS confirmed at 1.46pm it was investigating a technical glitch”
NATS confirmed at 1.46pm that it was investigating a technical glitch, and a Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: "The air traffic control service NATS is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports."
The disruption was described as leaving passengers stranded aboard aircraft as delays mounted across Britain’s busiest travel hubs, while Manchester Airport said the Nats problem could lead to delays to some outbound services.
The Guardian reported that departures from London airports were most severely affected, with few take-offs since a fault was reported early on Tuesday afternoon.T
In parallel, the disruption was reported to be affecting airports beyond the UK’s borders, including Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and Alicante Airport in Spain.
Airports urge flight checks
NATS told travellers that it was investigating a technical issue causing disruption to flight departures, and said: "Our engineers are on site and we will provide an update as soon as we can."
Heathrow said arriving flights were not currently impacted, and its spokesperson added: "Arriving flights are not currently impacted."
Manchester Airport advised passengers to check the latest status of their flight with their airline, while Edinburgh Airport said the technical issue affecting Nats "may impact operations".
At Stansted, a frustrated passenger described being stuck inside a plane on the tarmac, with an X user posting: "I think we are here for a while,".
The Guardian also reported that Eurocontrol said some inbound flights were being held at airports abroad, with disruption likely to continue until the evening.T
Scope and knock-on effects
The disruption affected a wide set of airports, with Flightradar24 data showing 10 UK airports affected, including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, East Midlands, Birmingham, Bristol, Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow and London City.
“Flightradar24 data shows 10 UK airports have been affected”
LBC reported that NATS said the problem was in its "flight processing system" at its Swanwick centre, and said flights were expected to be affected at airports including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, East Midlands Airport, Birmingham, Bristol and London Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow and City Airports.L
The Guardian said Heathrow’s website showed several flights due to depart this afternoon have been cancelled, and British Airways said it was experiencing some disruption and was in touch with its customers.T
Sky News reported that the transport secretary published a statement saying she was aware of "a technical issue impacting flights," and said she was sorry for the frustration for passengers.
CNBC added that in 2024 Britain’s aviation regulator said NATS needed to review its contingency plans for outages after the automatic processing of flight plans had malfunctioned, and said airline bosses estimated it had cost them over £100 million in refunds and compensation.