Major UK airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick, experienced significant departure disruptions on Monday due to a technical fault within the air traffic control provider Nats. The problem affected the Nats flight processing system, leading to intermittent pauses and delays for flights attempting to depart.
At Heathrow Airport, departures were initially halted around midday and faced further stop-start issues in the afternoon. While incoming flights were able to land as normal, passengers were advised to check their flight status with their respective airlines. Gatwick Airport also confirmed it was being affected by the technical problem, alongside other airports across the country.
East Midlands Airport reported being impacted, and Manchester Airport issued warnings about potential delays to departing flights. Edinburgh Airport also indicated that its operations might be affected.
Nats stated that its engineers were working urgently to resolve the issue and restore normal operations. "Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time," the organization said in a statement. Nats apologized for the inconvenience caused and committed to providing updates on its website and social media channels. The exact cause and resolution timeline for the system failure were not immediately clear, but investigations were ongoing.