- Francesca Gillette & Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC news
The UK Transport Secretary has warned that holidaymakers traveling to and from the UK will face several days of disruption after air traffic disruptions have wreaked havoc.
Technical glitches in Britain’s air traffic system have canceled or delayed hundreds of flights and stranded thousands.
“It will take a few days to get everyone in place,” said government official Mark Harper.
The last time there was a problem this big was about a decade ago, he said.
Holidaymakers said it was a nightmare Monday bank holiday, with more than a quarter of UK flights canceled and hours of waiting for word when to move.
Airlines and airports warned that flight disruptions continued on Tuesday. Heathrow Airport, the world’s busiest two-runway airport, said it continued to experience “significant disruption” to its schedule, with EasyJet saying some flights were still running. “I can’t fly,” he said.
The National Air Traffic Administration (Nats) confirmed the fault just after noon on Monday and said it had identified and resolved the problem at 15:15 BST.
But the company has launched an investigation into what went wrong and said it will take some time before flights return to normal.
The government is confident there was no cyberattack, Transport Secretary Harper told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday morning, but admitted the timing “wouldn’t help the public at all”.
“The last time something this important was about 10 years ago, things like this don’t happen often,” he said. “It will take a few days for everyone to be fully back where they belong.”
Aviation expert John Strickland said the spillovers to flight disruptions “will continue to ripple through the next few days.”
“Fortunately it’s very rare,” Strickland told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “This time it was so big, it took hours instead of minutes.
“Time has a really big domino effect.”
According to aviation data firm Cirium, 790 outbound flights were canceled on Monday, accounting for about 27% of all departures, and 785 flights, or about 27% of arrivals, were canceled.
Sirium said Heathrow had the most cancellations, followed by Gatwick and Manchester.
Airports and airlines were forced to apologize to travelers for delays and cancellations, and in some cases offered full refunds to passengers.
London’s Heathrow Airport on August 29 urged passengers to contact their airlines before arriving at the airport.
Gatwick said on Tuesday that delays and cancellations were expected, while London Luton Airport also said flights crossing UK airspace could still be delayed or canceled, and passengers should check with their airlines for flight status. said there is.
Aviation analyst Sally Gethin also said the disruption caused by the technical glitch would continue for several days.
He told BBC News: “Airlines will face big headaches in dealing with customers and getting flights back to normal schedules.”
“I think there will be a lot of chaos in the next few hours and tomorrow.” [Monday]I think there could be a ripple effect later this week for some. “
Passengers said they faced massive confusion when air traffic control had to enter their routes manually instead of automatically due to a disability.
Serena Hamilton at Belfast International Airport said her flight to Newcastle-upon-Tyne was canceled so she likely won’t be able to undergo a heart transplant test.
“I had a transplant 15 months ago and this appointment is very important,” she told BBC News.
Eileen Franklin, 60, said her Delta flight from Heathrow to Texas was canceled last minute and she, her daughter, son-in-law and friends had to pay for hotels.
“it was [saying delayed by] It’s been 2 hours, now it’s cancelled. Until 10 o’clock tomorrow morning,” she said.
Daniela Walther said her scheduled flight from Heathrow to Stuttgart, Germany, at 5:25pm was delayed by eight hours.
She added, “I know it’s going to be long, but on the other hand, I don’t want to miss any information, so I don’t dare to leave it. I don’t know if I can get the information on my phone.”
Cricket journalist Rory Dollard and his family are stranded in Bergerac, France, after a Ryanair flight was canceled and they could take up to six days to return home, they were told.
Thousands of passengers collide
In a statement late Monday night, Tui reassured customers that they were entitled to “future holiday vouchers of £100 per person” in addition to refunds.
BA apologized for the inconvenience, saying there had been “significant and unavoidable delays and cancellations”. The company advises short-haul customers to check if their flight is still operating before heading to the airport.
The airline may be able to change flights to a later date free of charge if it plans to travel on Mondays and Tuesdays and adds customers.
The CAA says airlines have a duty of care to provide food, beverages and accommodations if the delay continues overnight.
In the event of a flight cancellation, passengers must be offered the option of a refund or alternative travel arrangements at the earliest opportunity.
Nath said it was a “flight planning issue” that affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans.
This means that flight plans cannot be processed in the same amount, so “traffic restrictions will be necessary” for safety, he said.
Director of operations Juliet Kennedy apologized for the confusion and announced an investigation into what happened.
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