Due to a malfunction in the air traffic control system in Britain, more than 1000 flights have been cancelled, due to which there is panic in many airports across the country and crowds of people have started gathering.
Over 1,000 flights cancelled in Britain
A major technical fault in Britain's air traffic control (ATC) system has severely disrupted air traffic, with more than 1,000 flights cancelled across the country by late Tuesday night, according to flight monitoring website Flightradar24.
Britain's National Air Traffic Services said the problem with its flight processing system had been fixed by yesterday evening, but delays were felt at more than 15 airports across the country as airlines and airports tried to clear a huge backlog of stranded flights.
Passengers were stranded for 3 hours.
Josie Donoghue, a passenger at Gatwick, was stuck on a plane for three hours before her Ryanair flight to Ireland was cancelled. She said, "Leaving that airport was like trying to escape from Alcatraz." Alcatraz is a prison in San Francisco where security and surveillance are so tight that escape is impossible.
Like at Gatwick, many other passengers were also seen perplexed at the airports because, firstly, the airlines did not give prior information about the cancellation of flights, and secondly, due to the huge crowd of people gathering, there was a chaotic situation.
Flights cancelled one after another.
A sudden technical glitch in Britain's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight processing system has caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled or delayed by major airlines such as British Airways, easyJet, KLM, and Lufthansa. Even an Air India flight from Mumbai to London was diverted to Zurich.
What is the situation today?
The impact of over 1,300 flight cancellations in the UK today is such that airports are much more crowded than usual, airlines are facing difficulties in arranging flights and crew positions, due to which over 177 flights have been cancelled today.
According to a BBC report, Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, said more than 65,000 passengers were affected by delays of up to eight hours. British Airways also reported significant flight disruptions.
Airlines have demanded the resignation of the head of NATS for this recurring malfunction. Meanwhile, UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has apologized to passengers and assured them that the technical failure is being investigated.
