Technical Glitch in UK Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
Despite the resumption of flights at airports across England, the fallout from a major technical failure in the country’s air traffic control system continues, with cancellations and delays affecting thousands of passengers.
The head of Britain’s air traffic services organisation said the disruption was not caused by a cyberattack. The problem led to the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights on Tuesday and Wednesday and left tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
Martin Rolfe, chief executive of the organisation, apologised to passengers and said a full investigation would be carried out into the cause of the incident. According to him, the system has now returned to normal, but many flights and passengers are still waiting for schedules to be rearranged.
Heidi Alexander, Britain’s transport minister, has called Rolfe to explain the disruption. She is also expected to tell members of parliament that a cyberattack was not definitively the cause of the incident.
According to figures from aviation analytics company Cirium, about 1,750 flights were cancelled on Tuesday alone. By Wednesday afternoon, at least 291 more flights had also been cancelled.
The Telegraph earlier reported that equipment at the headquarters of Britain’s air traffic services organisation in Swanwick, near Southampton, had malfunctioned. Swanwick is one of the UK’s key air traffic management centres.
