A technical malfunction in the British air traffic control system today led to widespread disruption at airports across the United Kingdom, temporarily grounding all outgoing flights at several major hubs, including London’s Heathrow, Gatwick, and City airports, as well as Edinburgh Airport in Scotland.
The problem was traced to a system operated by NATS, the UK’s national air traffic service. In a statement posted on X, NATS confirmed that engineers had resolved the issue and that normal operations were gradually resuming in the London area.
“Our engineers have now restored the system that was impacted this afternoon, and we are in the process of resuming normal operations in the London area,” the statement read.
Heathrow Airport confirmed that all departing flights had been paused during the outage, while Gatwick said the issue had affected flight departures nationwide. London City Airport and Edinburgh Airport also reported suspended services while awaiting updates from NATS.
The incident caused delays and cancellations across the British airspace, affecting thousands of passengers during peak summer travel.
