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Türkiye's flag carrier Turkish Airlines warned travelers of possible delays and cancellations on flights to and from the United Kingdom on Wednesday after a technical problem disrupted the country’s air traffic control system.
The disruption, which began Tuesday, continued into Wednesday even after the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) resolved the technical fault in its flight processing system. FlightRadar24 reported that 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had already been canceled, following 1,300 cancellations to and from U.K. airports on Tuesday.
The airline’s communications office urged passengers to check their flight status before traveling, directing them to the TK Asistan application and the flight status section of its website.
The disruption hit a wide range of airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, while London City and Luton were also affected.
Heathrow suspended arrivals on Tuesday because of the technical problem, while departures later resumed. The airport warned that disruption would continue as airlines worked to recover schedules and clear the backlog.
Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted also faced delays and cancellations, with the effects carrying into Wednesday as airlines dealt with aircraft and crew displaced by the previous day’s disruption.
Birmingham and East Midlands were among the airports where flights were also affected, while Bristol warned travelers to expect further disruption on Wednesday.
The disruption also reached airports outside England’s main hubs. Edinburgh warned that the NATS problem could affect its operations, while Aberdeen and Glasgow were among other airports reporting delays or cancellations.
London City, Belfast, Southampton and Liverpool were also affected during the wider disruption.
NATS said late Tuesday that it was still working to help airlines and airports recover from the disruption caused by a "system issue." "Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today's disruption," NATS posted on X.
The organization described the process as complex, saying the incident had created difficulties across the wider aviation network and that it would take time for operations to return to normal. NATS had earlier said it had resolved the technical problem and was working to clear the resulting flight backlog.
The fault affected the processing of flights rather than shutting U.K. airspace altogether. Flights continued to depart, although traffic restrictions contributed to widespread delays and cancellations.
By Wednesday, airlines were dealing with the knock-on effects of Tuesday’s disruption, including rearranging services, repositioning aircraft and crews, and accommodating affected passengers. As a result, the resolution of the technical fault did not immediately bring schedules back to normal.
The latest incident follows a technical glitch in July last year that led to scores of cancellations involving U.K. flights.
Britain also experienced a major air traffic systems failure in 2023, when hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled and more than 700,000 passengers were affected.
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