UK air traffic control disruption causes hundreds of flight cancellations

Hundreds of flights into and out of the UK have been cancelled following a technical problem affecting the air traffic control provider Nats.

At least 1,000 flights in or out of the country have been cancelled, according to tracking website FlightRadar24. EasyJet has made 200 cancellations and British Airways has made more than 100.

Nats said on Tuesday evening that its flight systems were starting to recover.

With few aircraft able to take off, it is understood landings are being restricted, leading to some flights being prevented from departing from overseas airports.

The fault was widespread across the UK, and beyond, with airports in Scotland and Ireland also reporting disruption.

Europe's busiest airline, Ryanair, earlier reported that more than 65,000 passengers had been delayed by up to eight hours

At Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in Europe, departures were initially paused around lunchtime. Traffic then resumed, before facing further disruption in the afternoon.

It is understood that the airport ran out of space for incoming flights during the afternoon because planes had not been departing.

Thirteen Heathrow-bound flights were diverted to other airports in the UK and Europe.

Passengers have been advised to contact their airlines to check the status of their flights.

British Airways said in a statement that it was anticipating knock-on effects.

"We were forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights on Tuesday afternoon," a spokesperson said.

"We're doing everything we can to keep our customers updated and make arrangements for them to continue their journeys.

"We ask customers whose flights have been cancelled not to travel to the airport and to bear with us if they're trying to get in touch, as our call centres are incredibly busy at the moment."

Airports across the UK said they were experiencing cancellations and delays and advised people to check their flight details before travelling.

According to FlightRadar, the worst affected airports are Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham. The site said approximately 4% of UK flights have been cancelled or delayed as a result of the issue.

Ryanair said affected passengers would be notified.