Flights across parts of the UK have been delayed after a technical issue at National Air Traffic Services’ Prestwick centre forced restrictions on airspace covering northern and central England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Around 24 flights had been cancelled by 9.58 am, according to aviation data provider Cirium, including four departures from Manchester Airport and four from Belfast International.
Here are the flights that have been cancelled so far:
- Manchester Airport – 4
- Belfast International Airport – 4
- George Best Belfast City Airport – 4
- Edinburgh Airport – 3
- London Heathrow Airport – 2
- London City Airport – 2
- London Stansted Airport – 1
- London Luton Airport – 1
- Leeds Bradford Airport – 1
- Humberside Airport – 1
- Glasgow Airport – 1
Manchester and Glasgow airports reported disruption, while easyJet and British Airways warned passengers of possible delays. Manchester Airport advised travellers to check directly with their airlines before travelling.
NATS said it was investigating the problem and stressed that the latest fault was unrelated to the software failure earlier in September that caused widespread disruption across UK airports.
That earlier outage resulted in more than 2,000 flight cancellations and affected an estimated 330,000 passengers, according to Airlines UK.
The latest incident comes only weeks after that failure, increasing scrutiny of the resilience of the UK’s air traffic control infrastructure.
For passengers travelling through affected airports, the immediate advice is to check flight status with their airline, as delays and further cancellations remain possible while the airspace restrictions continue.
In a statement, a NATS spokesperson said:
We are investigating a technical issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland. To maintain safety, air traffic regulations have been applied to manage traffic demand.
Engineers are on site investigating and working to resolve the issue. The issue is unrelated to the technical problems experienced earlier this month.
We apologise for the disruption and any delays to passengers’ journeys. Passengers should check with their airline for the latest information on their flight.
