NATS Confirms technical issue impacting air traffic control systems has been fixed

A technical issue that has impacted the country’s air traffic control systems has been fixed, National Air Traffic Services has said.

In a statement at 3.15pm NATS said: “We have identified and remedied the technical issue affecting our flight planning system this morning.”

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

“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.”

“Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing. Please contact your airline for information on how this may affect your flight.”

UK air traffic disruption: If you’re flying from, or to the UK today (Monday) or Tue/Wed/Thu, expect flight delays and cancellations following today’s national air traffic provider system outage.

Airline jets are in the wrong place following the restrictions; some pilots and…

— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 28, 2023

Earlier report: Thousands of travellers are facing significant delays and cancellations at airports across the UK due to a technical issue that has impacted the country’s air traffic control systems.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) confirmed that engineers are working to fix the fault, which is affecting the processing of airlines’ flight plans, currently being done manually.

NATS emphasised that the UK airspace is not closed, but traffic restrictions have been implemented to “maintain safety”.

As a result, several UK airports including Liverpool and Manchester have issued warnings regarding delays and cancellations.

There is currently a UK-wide air traffic control flight planning system failure, which engineers are working to remedy.

Whilst aircraft will be loaded on time, some flights may be subject to a delay.

This is out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s control, but we will keep you… pic.twitter.com/iqllRcClkf

— Liverpool John Lennon Airport (@LPL_Airport) August 28, 2023

⚠️ Potential flight disruption ⚠️

We are aware of a nationwide air traffic control issue that is affecting flights in and out of airports across the country.

ℹ️: https://t.co/A46V8yPekk pic.twitter.com/cY2EbGzdte

— Manchester Airport (@manairport) August 28, 2023

In a statement released at 2:20 pm, a spokesperson for NATS said, “This morning’s technical issue is affecting our ability to automatically process flight plans.”

“Until our engineers have resolved this, flight plans are being input manually which means we cannot process them at the same volume, hence we have applied traffic flow restrictions.”

“Our technical experts are looking at all possible solutions to rectify this as quickly as possible.”

“Our priority is ensuring every flight in the UK remains safe and doing everything we can to minimise the impact.”

“Please contact your airline for information on how this may affect your flight. We are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing.”

Airlines have been briefed in the last hour to ‘plan for further major disruption’ as the UK’s national’ air traffic control system failure remains ‘unresolved’ ✈️⚠️ https://t.co/OlEJBZ77q3

— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 28, 2023

Liverpool John Lennon Airport also issued a statement, saying, “There is currently a UK-wide air traffic control flight planning system failure, which engineers are working to remedy. Whilst aircraft will be loaded on time, some flights may be subject to a delay.”

“This is out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s control, but we will keep you updated as things change. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Low-cost airline Ryanair apologise for delays and cancellations “due to another UK air traffic control failure” https://t.co/Xh1gE0dSI7

— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) August 28, 2023

The technical issue has caused widespread disruption, affecting not only passengers but also airlines and airport operations.

Travellers are advised to check with their airlines for the most up-to-date information on their flights and to prepare for potential delays.