Travel chaos: Thousands stranded by 500 cancelled flights after air traffic control failure

Air passengers from across the world were left stranded as a major nation’s systems crashed, with disruption expected to last for days.

Thousands of air passengers worldwide were left stranded by a major air traffic control failure on Monday in the UK – and the effects could last days.

A “technical issue” that grounded 500 flights across the UK was said to be fixed by this Monday afternoon (UK time), but experts warned of knock-on disruption as planes and crews were left in the wrong places, The Sun reports.

Fuming passengers were told that the network was down and that their flights would be delayed for hours – with many shocked as they sat on the planes waiting to take off.

UK TV presenter Gabby Logan was among those caught up in the problems at Heathrow.

She said: “On a plane on the runway at Budapest airport. After almost three weeks away from home I am hours from hugging my family.

“And I have just been told that the UK airspace is shut. We could be here for 12 hours. So we sit on the plane and wait.”

People wait near check-in desks at Gatwick Airport on August 28, 2023 in Crawley, United Kingdom. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images.

Thousands of travellers were bracing to face up to 12 hours of delays following the fault.

But about 4pm, Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it had resolved the technical issue which was affecting air traffic control systems.

“We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible,” it said.

“Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance as we return to normal operations.

“The flight planning issue affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans, meaning that flight plans had to be processed manually which cannot be done at the same volume, hence the requirement for traffic flow restrictions.

British Airways told passengers on Monday afternoon that no flights would take off until 6pm and all check-in desks were closed.

London’s Heathrow Airport was badly hit by the IT outage. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

However, the backlog of flights could bring days of problems for those looking to jet off this – while those hoping to return from Bank Holiday weekend holidays were left stranded.

According to The Sun’s travel editor, the issue “could not have come at a worse time” and disruption will likely continue into the week.

Lisa Minot said: “This is actually the busiest weekend since October 2019”.

“The fact that it has gone on for so long means this is going to definitely start to impact flights all the way into next week.

A man checks his phone as he waits at Gatwick Airport on August 28, 2023 in Crawley, United Kingdom. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images.

“It’s going to impact flights across the globe. I’m already seeing flights that were due to be landing here into the UK from places now not showing up until 7am or 8am tomorrow morning, and that’s if they actually go ahead.”

Not all flights were grounded with NATS only putting “traffic flow restrictions” in place.

Although no exact cause has yet been given for the outage, a potential hack by a foreign power has not yet been ruled out.

Air traffic chaos

One fed up holiday-maker previously said: “Not Ryanair sitting us on the flight and then telling us there are problems with the UK systems so we aren’t setting off til 6.45pm? It’s 11.50a”.

Another moaned: “Sat on the tarmac at Ibiza Airport and there are issues with UK air traffic control according to pilot”.

“Delay unknown at present!”

Passengers wait at a boarding gate for a British Airways flight bound for London at Budapest International Airport on August 28, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. Picture: Getty Images.

Daniela Walther, 44, was supposed to leave Heathrow for Stuttgart, Germany, on a BA flight at 5.25pm but it will now leave later than 1am.

She said staff have been helpful but it “took a while to find someone to talk to”.

Daniela said: “I know it’s going to be long but on the other hand I don’t dare to leave because I don’t want to miss information, and I don’t know if I don’t get it on my phone.”

Posting online, an easyJet passenger wrote: “Just informed by easyJet that my flight tonight is likely to be delayed by nearly 7 hours.

“Manchester to Prague. Apparently air traffic control system issue.”

Another fuming woman said her daughter had been stuck at Palma airport since yesterday afternoon.

Tracey Foster said: “My daughter is currently stuck at Palma airport [and has been] since yesterday afternoon.

“Jet2 finally put them on a bus only to now be taken off the bus and nobody is there to answer any questions, a complete shambles.”

People wait near the easyJet check-in desks at Gatwick Airport on August 28, 2023 in Crawley, United Kingdom. Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images.

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “I sympathise with any disruption passengers may be experiencing”.

According to the latest data, 3049 flights were due to leave the UK today with 540,000 customers seated.

And a further 3054 flights were scheduled to arrive into UK airports on Monday bringing in an additional 543,000 passengers.

As of 2.30pm, Cirium data revealed 232 flights planning to leave the country had been cancelled.

And 271 flights entering were also not taking off.

More than 500 flights cancelled

Statements from some of the UK’s airline giants were issued as engineers scrambled to bring an end to the mayhem.

EasyJet said it was working with authorities to get the issue solved.

A British Airways spokesman said: “We are working closely with NATS to understand the impact of a technical issue that is affecting UK airspace, and will keep our customers up to date with the latest information.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.