UK Air Traffic Control Outage Enters Third Day, Hits 3,500 More Flights

Flight disruption across the UK has entered its third consecutive day after a technical failure at the country's air traffic control provider continued to cause cancellations and delays at major airports. According to airport data, around 3,500 additional flights were affected on the third day, taking the total number of disrupted flights over the three days to more than 12,000. The disruption has reportedly affected millions of passengers as airlines struggle to clear a backlog created by the initial system failure. At London Heathrow, 60 more flights were cancelled while 729 experienced delays. Gatwick Airport recorded 17 cancellations and 529 delays, while Manchester Airport saw five cancellations and 403 delayed flights. Other major airports also remained affected. Flight disruptions included 349 flights at Stansted, 240 at Luton, 222 at Edinburgh, 193 at Birmingham, 127 at Bristol, 124 at Glasgow and 87 at Belfast. Overall, airport data cited in reports showed about 2,500 flights cancelled and 9,500 delayed over the three days. The disruption stems from a technical failure in the flight-data processing system operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK's air traffic control provider. NATS said the system was restored after the initial failure, but warned that the knock-on effects could continue as aircraft and crew were left out of position. The incident has triggered growing criticism of NATS. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign and has accused the company of providing conflicting explanations about the cause of the failure. NATS has rejected the suggestion that the latest incident was the same as previous failures and said an investigation is underway. The UK government has ordered NATS to establish the root cause of the failure, while the Civil Aviation Authority has launched an independent review. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has said the disruption should not be regarded as unavoidable. Read More: Algeria Shuts Airspace to UAE Aircraft Airlines and airports are advising passengers to check their flight status directly before travelling, with disruption expected to continue while the aviation network returns to normal.