London airspace shuts after 'computer failure'

Dozens of flights across London and the south of England have been cancelled and many others are delayed, following a computer failure at a national air traffic control centre.

Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, said the "computer failure" had occurred at the NATS UK air traffic control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, and for a time no flights were able to take off or land at some UK airports.

The failure affected London and southern UK airspace and Eurocontrol initially warned it could cause "potentially severe" flight delays.

At around 4pm, air traffic management group NATS said the system had been restored and it was in "the process of returning to normal operations".

Nats is now investigating the cause of the fault, but stressed it was not due to a power outage.

It went on to warn passengers that it will take time for operations across the UK to fully recover, and advised customers to contact their airline for the status of their flight.

Airports as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh were hit by the computer problem, with Birmingham, Manchester, Luton and Bristol also reporting problems.

Stansted and Gatwick also experienced problems, but the airports escaped more lightly than Heathrow where the rate of 80 to 90 flights handled every hour means even a comparatively short systems failure leads to severe disruption.

Heathrow said that while flights are now departing and arriving, 50 flights were cancelled. It admitted the figure could rise and that delays could last into tomorrow.

The west London facility told passengers to check their flight status before coming to the airport as flights were experiencing "severe disruption".

All flights from Luton Airport were delayed but have now resumed. The airport warned passengers to expect "residual delays".

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Shortly after the disruption, Stansted Aiport said departing flights were suspended. It said flights are now departing from the airport but there are delays.

At Gatwick, all incoming flights were continuing to land, but all departing flights were grounded. Flights from Gatwick are now also departing.

No flights had been cancelled at Bristol Airport, although it did say there may be delays. "If you're flying, please check in as normal," it said.

In a statement, Newcastle Airport added: "If you're travelling with us this evening please come to the airport as normal, however we do expect there will be some delays".

It told passengers to contact their airline if they had concerns.

A spokesman added he was unable to give specific numbers, but said the incident was "resulting in some delays but operations are getting back to normal."

Passengers have been tweeting pictures from affected airports.

British Airways said it anticipated disruption to both departing and arriving flights and urged passengers to check their flight status beforehand.

A spokesperson said: "We will endeavour to keep our customers informed of the status of their flight but we would urge anyone with a flight booking to check ba.com before leaving for the airport.

"If you do not wish to travel from Heathrow, Gatwick or London City this evening we are offering our customers the opportunity to rebook their flight to a later date or a full refund."

A statement released earlier by NATS said: "NATS can confirm that a technical problem has been reported at Swanwick air traffic control centre.

"We apologise for any delays and our incident response team has been mobilised.

"Every possible action is being taken to assist in resolving the situation and to confirm the details."

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked Nats for a full explanation of this evening's incident."

"Any disruption to our aviation system is a matter of the utmost concern, especially at this time of year in the run up to the holiday season," he added.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said that while Denied Boarding Regulations enable consumers to claim compensation for delays and cancellations, an airline does not have to pay out if it can demonstration the events were "extraordinary".

"Passengers may however still be entitled to refreshments, free phone calls and overnight accommodation depending on how long the delay is, how far you are flying and whether the flight is to or from an EU or non-EU airport or on an EU or non-EU carrier," he added.