Travel chaos could last days as thousands stranded by cancelled flights

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Thousands of passengers are stranded due to cancelled flights caused by a technical fault in the United Kingdom air traffic control system.

The disruption, which began on Monday during a bank holiday, forced controllers to manually input flight plans due to the system failure.

Around 8% of expected departures and 9% of arrivals were cancelled by Monday afternoon, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS), responsible for air traffic control, confirmed that the technical issue had been resolved and they were collaborating with airlines and airports to assist affected flights. The automatic system that supplies controllers with aircraft details and routes had malfunctioned.

 While the situation has been resolved, returning to normal operations will take time, NATS stated. The cause of the technical issue is not suspected to be a cyber attack.

The passengers across the United Kingdom and abroad expressed frustration at the uncertainty regarding their travel plans, with major airlines warning of substantial delays.

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