Air Traffic Control Problem Delays UK Flights

Flights at several airports - including Heathrow and Gatwick - have been delayed by an air traffic control system problem.

Thousands of passengers have seen their flights delayed by a "technical problem" at southern England's main air traffic control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.

Gatwick Airport tweeted: "Due to air traffic control systems issues some flights may be delayed. Please check with your airline."

A Heathrow Airport spokeswoman said: "We are currently experiencing some delays."

Stansted also used Twitter to update travellers, saying: "A technical issue at Swanwick air traffic control at is currently causing delays to some flights at airports in southern England."

There are also reports of delays at Cardiff, Southampton, Luton, London City and flights to the south from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

NATS air traffic control said in a statement: "Due to a technical problem at Swanwick we are currently experiencing some difficulty switching from night time to daytime operation.

"This may result in some delays for which we apologise. Engineers are working to rectify the problem as soon as possible."

The issue has also affected flights from Ireland and there have been reports of delays at Malaga Airport.

Dublin Airport tweeted: "Technical issue with air traffic control in southern England is causing a delay to some flights to England & continental Europe this AM."

The arrivals board at Gatwick Airport, which has been affected

Passenger Daisy McAndrew said she had been caught in the "unholy mess" at Gatwick as she tried to fly to Barcelona for work.

"As ever, staff have been fantastic but they know nothing other than the fact it is going to be a very, very long delay - very frustrating," Mrs McAndrew told Sky News.

"And also, it's embarrassing, isn't it? When you look around a lot of people on my plane are not British, they are flying British Airways, they are probably trying to get back to Spain and they will inevitably be thinking this is something that could have possibly been prevented.

"It doesn't show our air traffic control system or our travel system in a good light.

"I have never heard of an example where every single plane is grounded - it's quite eerie when I look out of the window to see the tarmac in Gatwick, normally so busy, and also the sky above Gatwick which is normally busy - completely static, there's nothing moving."

Radar engineer Dan Holland told Sky News the problem may be caused by issues communicating flight data between air traffic control at individual airports and the regional hub at Swanwick.

Sky News reporter Clare Fallon said problems at Swanwick had caused a similar backlog last summer.

She said: "There were several airports, mostly in the south of England, including Heathrow, and it took several hours then for them to actually deal with that problem."

:: Are you stranded? Email us: news@sky.com.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602 and Freeview channel 82.

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