Flights resume at Gatwick Airport following air traffic control issue
Flights have resumed at Gatwick Airport this morning (September 9) following an air traffic control issue – but delays are still anticipated.
Passengers faced delays and cancellations after a technical issue affecting the UK's air traffic control system caused widespread disruption yesterday (September 8).
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) resolved the issue – which was identified in its flight processing system – at around 7.30pm, but passengers continued to face disruption due to a backlog of flights at airlines across the country.
NATS last update was at 10.17pm. They posted: “Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today's disruption. This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover. We apologise again for the disruption caused. Passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight tonight or tomorrow.”
The issue affected other major UK airports, including Heathrow, Stansted and Manchester. Ryanair revealed that more than 50 of its flights have been cancelled, while more than 65,000 passengers were delayed by up to eight hours.
At 7am this morning, London Gatwick confirmed flights had resumed.
“However, we still anticipate that it will take time for our operations to fully return to normal,” a Gatwick spokesperson said.
“Passengers should continue to check with their airlines for more information regarding their flights.”
Journeys to and from Gatwick have been hit with delays and cancellations. See the latest here.