UK airports grounded all departing flights following a radar failure affecting the wider London area.
The issue is set to leave passengers facing major delays, with details suggesting a widespread issue affecting London Air Traffic Control.
Air traffic control provider Nats said it is limiting the number of aircraft which can fly in the "London control area".
The company said it is limiting the number of aircraft which can fly in the "London control area".
The technical issue relates to Nats’ control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.
Gatwick airport said it is affecting all outbound flights across the UK.
Several flights scheduled to arrive at UK airports are being forced to conduct holding patterns or divert elsewhere.
15h ago
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Josef Al Shemary
15h ago
'I'm afraid I'll miss my brother's wedding', says man whose plane was cancelled
A man whose plane was cancelled from Heathrow Airport after air traffic control provider Nats suffered a technical issue, said he was worried he would miss his brother’s wedding.
John Carr, a chiropodist from Stourbridge, was on his way to Norway with a group of friends to help set up his brother’s wedding, for which he is best man, when he found out after checking in his flight was cancelled.
The 35-year-old told the PA news agency from outside Terminal 3 he was stressed.
He said: “I’m pretty gutted. We’ve got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we’re obviously flying to Norway. We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful.”
His friend James Hedges, also from Stourbridge, added: “We found out today; we’d already checked in and gone through the security checks.
“We were in the departures lounge, and we were literally sitting down having a burger when it came up on the (screen). Our flight was still showing as if it was leaving, and they were waiting to give us a gate and that that would be given at 4.45pm. When that time came around, it then switched to cancelled.”
Josef Al Shemary
16h ago
At least 45 flights cancelled across UK as of 17:30, data reveals
At least 45 flights were cancelled today as of 17:30, data shows.
An aviation analytics firm, Cirium, has told the BBC: “Today, 30 July 2025, has seen a total of 45 departures cancelled so far, across all UK airports.
“There has also been a total of 35 arrivals cancelled so far, across all UK airports.
“London Heathrow has seen the highest number of cancellations so far, with a total of 16 departures and seven arrivals so far.
“There were also more than 16 flights en route to London Heathrow that had to be diverted to other airports.”
The firm said the data was accurate as of 17:30, but is likely to change.
Josef Al Shemary
17h ago
Full investigation should be launched to rule out 'hostile action', Lib Dems say
A full investigation into Wednesday’s air traffic control glitch must be launched, the Liberal Democrats said.
The party leader, Ed Davey, said the government has to ensure the system is fit for purpose, including ruling out hostile action.
Sir Ed Davey said: “It is utterly unacceptable that after a major disruption just two years ago, air traffic control has once again been hit by a technical fault.
“With thousands of families preparing to go on a well-earned break, this just isn’t good enough.
“The Government should launch an urgent investigation to ensure the system is fit for purpose, including ruling out hostile action as a cause.
“The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure.”
Josef Al Shemary
17h ago
Transport Secretary says 'continued disruption is expected'
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “I am aware of a technical issue which impacted NATS operations causing travel disruption this afternoon.
“I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.”
Josef Al Shemary
17h ago
Ryanair calls for NATS chief to resign over air traffic control fault
Ryanair has called for Nats’ chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign after the air traffic control fault on Wednesday.
The airline claimed “no lessons have been learnt” since the August 2023 system outage.
Ryanair’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon said: “It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.
“Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace meaning thousands of passengers’ travel plans have been disrupted.
“It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the Aug 2023 Nats system outage, and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe’s incompetence.
“If Nats CEO Martin Rolfe fails to resign on the back of this latest Nats system outage that has disrupted thousands of passengers yet again, then UK transport minister Heidi Alexander must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform of Nats’ shambolic ATC service, so that airlines and passengers are no longer forced to endure these preventable delays caused by persistent Nats failures.”
In 2023, a mass system outage caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled at the UK’s busiest airports because of a system glitch.
All UK airlines took a hit from the outage, which saw over 500 flights cancelled.
Josef Al Shemary
17h ago
Flights are resuming – but mass disruption continues
Flights are now taking off and landing again at UK airports after NATS reported that the earlier radar fault was resolved.
But passengers across the UK continue to face mass disruption after departures were delayed and flights diverted to other countries.
Edinburgh Airport said flight operations returned to normal at 17:00, with an Edinburgh to Cologne flight.
British Airways said the number of flights departing from and landing at Heathrow is restricted to 32 per hour.
Its flight traffic will resume to the normal level of 45 per hour at 19:15.
Josef Al Shemary
18h ago
Passenger 'very frustrated' and 'stuck on plane' after diversion to Paris
Valentina Balsarin was flying from Milan to Heathrow with her boyfriend, Stefano, when she was diverted to Paris.
Balsarin was meant to catch a connecting flight to New York in two hours – but doubts she will catch it now.
“When the cabin crew announced the diversion I thought it was just for like 30 minutes. But then they said two hours!”
“I knew I would have missed my flight to New York.
“Now we are still stuck on the plane and no one is giving us any information or news about what’s going on and when we will depart again.”
Balsarin was on a holiday with her boyfriend.
Alice Padgett
18h ago
Air traffic capacity 'returns to normal'
Air traffic control provider NATS reports that this “systems are fully operational and air traffic capacity is returning to normal.
“Departures at all airports have resumed and we are working with affected airlines and airports to clear the backlog safely.”
Confusion remains over the impact of delays on passengers.
Alice Padgett
18h ago
Passengers stuck on tarmac at Heathrow
Alice Padgett