The latest travel disruption has been described as the worst incident in ‘nearly a decade’, which is set to last for several days.
It comes after flights were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded during a technical fault in the UK’s air traffic control (ATC) system.
Amongst some of those who are stranded include former model and TV personality Christine McGuinness, and Bolton-born actress Helen Flanagan.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it was the worst incident of its kind in “nearly a decade” and announced that an “independent review” will now be carried out.
Let us know if you have been affected during your travels by clicking on the assignment set up at the bottom of the story.
The issue started on Monday after a technical glitch meant flight plans had to be input manually by controllers, causing more than a quarter of departures and arrivals to be axed.
A message from our Operations Director about today’s disruption. pic.twitter.com/C4LWX7VyM8
— NATS (@NATS) August 28, 2023
The disruption continued into Tuesday with flights cancelled and delayed as many aircraft and crews are out of position.
Manchester Airport revealed in a Tweet that following the nationwide disruption, that there continues to be some delays and cancellations.
The Tweet said: “Please check the status of your flight with your airline before travelling to the airport.
“As our airlines look to accommodate passengers whose travel plans have been disrupted over the past 24 hours, our terminals may be busier than usual at times.
“We are working hard with our airlines and their handling agents to get you through the airport as smoothly as possible.
“We thank you for your understanding.”
At Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, at least 32 departures and 31 arrivals were cancelled.
British Airways, which operates the most flights to and from the west London airport, was the worst affected airline.
There were at least 23 departures and 51 arrivals cancelled at Gatwick on Tuesday.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper told GB News: “This was a technical fault. We do not think this was a cybersecurity incident.
“And what will happen now with an incident of this magnitude is there will be an independent review.
“The Civil Aviation Authority will be putting together a report in the coming days, which obviously I will take a look at to see whether there are lessons to learn for the future, to see whether we can reduce the impact of this again.
“It’s nearly a decade since there was a significant issue like this.
“We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again, because of all the disruption that’s been caused to passengers across the country.”
An unprecedented ATC systems failure in December 2014 led to widespread disruption at airports.
In relation to the latest incident, Heathrow Airport said in a statement: “Schedules continue to be affected by yesterday’s restrictions on UK airspace.
Aviation analytics company Cirium said 790 departures and 785 arrivals were cancelled across all UK airports on Monday.
That was equivalent to around 27 per cent of planned flights.
National Air Traffic Services (Nats), the country’s leading provider of ATC, said at 3.15pm on Monday it had “identified and remedied” the technical issue affecting its systems and it was working with airlines and airports to support affected flights.
Juliet Kennedy, operations director at Nats, said the issue meant the automatic system that provides controllers with details of every aircraft and its route stopped working.
She added: “To manage safety, we had to limit the number of flights we could manage.”
Passengers stuck in the UK and abroad described their frustration, as some had no idea when or how they would get to their destination.
If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at jasmine.jackson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @JournoJasmine.
Have you been affected in Bolton by the UK flight delays?
Thousands of passengers have been stranded abroad and had their flights cancelled during a technical fault in the UK’s air traffic control. We would love to hear from you if you're from Bolton about how you have been affected. Are you stuck and unable to get home on time? Are you worried that your upcoming travel plans might be at risk? Get in touch and tell us your story.
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