The United Kingdom has had a major air traffic control system outage on Monday morning August 28, 2023. NATS the agency overseeing air traffic control operations for the United Kingdom reported an issue with the system that automatically processes flight plans. In the interest of safety the NATS has limited the number of arriving and departing flights. As a result many flights are either cancelled or delayed as the issue is being resolved. BBC UK reports that 232 departing flights have been canceled 271 inbound flights were canceled.
Rectifying The Issue
At 3:15 PM UK local time, NATS reports that the issue has been rectified and that airlines are working closely with NATS to resume normal operations. Virgin Atlantic has placed a banner on their website advising travelers to, “Please continue to make your way to the airport as planned and check virginatlantic.com for your flight status and further information.” British Airways also released an advisory on their website stating, “our flights have been severely disrupted as a result of a major issue experienced by NATS Air Traffic Control on Monday 28 August. While NATS has now resolved the issue, it has created significant and unavoidable delays and cancellations.” Passengers on British airways have the option to move reservations free of charge as a travel waiver is now in effect. Passengers should check with their selected airline for the latest flight information.