UK airports face more disruption after air traffic control glitch

UK airports faced more travel disruptions on Wednesday after a technical glitch at air traffic control services caused chaos across the country. More than 150 flights were cancelled, bringing the total to over 300 cancellations across the nation on Tuesday. The majority of the affected flights were at London's Heathrow Airport, Britain's busiest airport, according to aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24.

NATS, the National Air Traffic Services, was working to resolve the disruption following a system issue. They acknowledged it was a complex recovery process with uncertainties, stating that it would take time for the entire aviation network to recover. Heathrow confirmed that departures resumed, but warned that further disruption was expected and advised passengers to check with their airlines before travelling.

NATS had claimed to have resolved the glitch, but the organization faced criticism for its handling of the situation. British Airways cancelled over 100 flights, impacting tens of thousands of passengers, while Ryanair reported disruptions for more than 65,000 passengers, cancelling more than 50 flights. The incident echoed a similar technical glitch in July of the previous year, causing widespread cancellations and anger among airline executives.

British transport secretary Heidi Alexander called for lessons to be learned and systems to be improved, while Ryanair's COO Neal McMahon demanded the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe.