Heathrow among airports affected by air traffic issue

Heathrow Airport, the UK's largest airport in west London, confirmed it was one of the airports impacted but said arriving flights were 'currently not affected' in a statement released this afternoon, September 8. Nats said in a statement it was 'investigating a technical issue' causing disruption to some flight departures, and later said it had identified the problem was in its 'flight processing system'. The company said: 'Our engineers are on site and working urgently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible. 'We recognise the ongoing disruption to travel, for which we sincerely apologise. 'Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time. We will provide further updates as soon as possible. 'Passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline.' A Heathrow spokesperson said: 'The air traffic control service Nats is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports. 'Arriving flights are not currently impacted. 'We are supporting our local Nats team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 'We will provide updated information when we have it.' The airport apologised to impacted customers. Birmingham Airport said the issue was affecting airspace in the south of the UK and was 'impacting a significant number of departing flights across the country'. Manchester Airport Group, the company that operates Manchester Airport, Stansted Airport in Essex and East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, said flights from all three had been affected by the issue. Jersey Airport, in the Channel Islands, said its flights had also been impacted. Passengers have been advised to check the latest flight information with their airlines.