'Network-wide failure' causes chaos for travellers with flights delayed due to air traffic control fault

Scottish airline Loganair and EasyJet have both warned passengers there could be delays to flights.

NATS, the national air traffic controllers, said in a statement: “We are currently experiencing a technical issue and have applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety. Engineers are working to find and the fix the fault.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

One passenger stuck at Gatwick airport told GB News: "We've been told that the issues mean that our plane isn't due to leave for another seven hours.

"I was only going for a short break. To make matters worse, they've told us that things could change at any point so we shouldn't leave the gate in case they can suddenly take off sooner.

"It's complete chaos. My relaxing holiday is now ruined."

European air traffic authority Eurocontrol has warned of "very high" delays because of a "flight data processing system failure" in the UK.

In a post on social media Loganair said: "There has been a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems this morning.

"Although we are hopeful of being able to operate most intra-Scotland flights on the basis of local coordination and with a minimum of disruption, north-south and international flights maybe subject to delays.

"If you are flying with us today, please check our website for the latest information about your flight before setting off for the airport."

NATs has confirmed that that UK airspace is not closed, but restrictions are in place as a safety measure.

A spokesperson said: "We are continuing to work hard to resolve the technical issue. To clarify, UK airspace is not closed, we have had to apply air traffic flow restrictions which ensures we can maintain safety."

More to follow...