Passengers have been warned that flights in and out of the UK remain “significantly disrupted” following an air traffic fault on Monday. Despite the issue being resolved within hours, Heathrow Airport said its schedule was still affected. Some airlines issued similar warnings, with EasyJet telling customers some flights would be “unable to operate”. Hundreds of flights were cancelled due to the glitch, leaving thousands of people stuck at home and abroad.
Holidaymakers described a nightmare Bank Holiday Monday of travel, with many describing frustrated hours-long waits for news of when they would get moving. National Air Traffic Services (Nats) confirmed the fault just after midday on Monday, before it announced at 15:15 BST that it had identified and remedied the issue.
But it said it would “take some time for flights to return to normal”, they said – as they launched an investigation into what went wrong. Airports and airlines were forced to apologise to travellers for the delays and cancellations, and in some cases have offered passengers full refunds.
What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?
London’s Heathrow Airport – which is the world’s busiest two-runway airport – admitted that its schedules would continue to be “significantly disrupted” on Tuesday.
“If you are travelling on 29th August, please ensure you contact your airline before travelling to the airport,” it said.
Gatwick, on the other hand, said it was planning to operate a normal schedule, but advised passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before going to the airport. London Luton Airport said flights across UK airspace remained subject to delays and cancellation, and people should check with their airline for the status of their flight.
Aviation analyst Sally Gethin said the disruption in the aftermath of the technical fault will last for days.
“Airlines will have a major headache now, looking after customers and getting the planes back to some normal schedule again,” she told BBC News.
“I think we are going to see sizable disruption in the coming hours and tomorrow [Monday], and I think for some people there could be a knock-on effect into later this week.”
Passengers recounted how they faced huge disruption as air traffic control had to input routes manually, rather than automatically, because of the fault. Serena Hamilton at Belfast International Airport said she was likely to miss a heart transplant check-up after her flight to Newcastle-upon-Tyne got cancelled.
“I had a transplant 15 months ago and these appointments are very important,” she told BBC News.
Irene Franklin, 60, said she, her daughter, son-in-law and friends were forced to pay for a hotel after their Delta flight from Heathrow to Texas was cancelled at the last minute.
“It was [saying delayed by] two hours, now it’s cancelled. It’s now not until tomorrow morning at 10,” she said.
Daniela Walther said she was supposed to catch a flight from Heathrow for Stuttgart, Germany, at 17:25, but it was pushed back eight hours. She added: “I know it’s going to be long but on the other hand I don’t dare to leave because I don’t want to miss information, and I don’t know if I don’t get it on my phone.”
Cricket journalist Rory Dollard and his family are stuck in Bergerac, France and were told it could take up to six days to get home after his Ryanair flight was cancelled.
Thousands of passengers hit
According to aviation data firm Cirium on Monday afternoon, more than 230 departing fights had been cancelled, which it said was equivalent to 8% of all departures, and 271, or 9%, of incoming flights.
In a statement late on Monday night, Tui reassured its customers that on top of a refund they would be entitled to a “future holiday voucher of £100 per person”.
BA said that there were “significant and unavoidable delays and cancellations” and apologised for the inconvenience caused. It has advised customers who were travelling on short-haul services to check their flight was still running before heading to the airport.
The airline added customers due to travel on Monday and Tuesday may be able to move their flights free of charge to a later date. Source; BBC
