Airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted warned that disruption would continue as airlines worked through the impact of cancelled services. The failure has also prompted questions from government officials and the aviation sector about the resilience of air traffic control systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The disruption began after a technical issue affected Nats, which provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports. According to flight tracking website Flightradar24<\/strong>, around 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday, with a further 279 cancellations recorded on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of Wednesday\u2019s cancelled flights involved departures from London Heathrow<\/strong>, although airports across the UK reported continued effects from the previous day\u2019s disruption. Passengers were advised to check their flight status directly with airlines before travelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nats said engineers identified and fixed the problem several hours after the disruption began. The organisation apologised for the delays and said its focus was on restoring normal operations and supporting airlines, airports and passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several airlines reported significant impacts. Ryanair said more than 65,000 passengers had been affected, with more than 50 scheduled services cancelled. British Airways said it had been forced to cancel <\/strong>or divert <\/strong>more than 100 flights on Tuesday, affecting tens of thousands of customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some passengers reported being held on aircraft on runways for extended periods, with complaints about limited access to food, drinks and toilet facilities. Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe<\/strong><\/a> accepted responsibility for the disruption, telling Sky News that his role was to ensure safety and provide the best service possible during the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n