LONDON, July 31 — Travel chaos continues at London’s Heathrow Airport as passengers face more flight cancellations, following a major technical glitch in the UK’s air traffic control systems. While authorities say systems are now fully functional, the ripple effects are still being felt by travelers hoping to get to their destinations.
On Thursday, at least 16 flights were canceled at Heathrow—Europe’s busiest airport—including routes to Brussels and Toronto, and inbound flights from New York and Berlin. This follows the broader disruption seen on Wednesday when National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the agency managing UK airspace, experienced a system failure that affected multiple airports including Gatwick and Edinburgh.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported 122 cancellations by Wednesday evening alone.
Despite reassurance from NATS that operations have returned to normal using a backup system, travelers remain stranded, facing rebookings, delays, and lost time.
Transport Minister Heidi Alexander acknowledged the growing frustration, announcing her plan to meet NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to investigate the failure and ensure it doesn’t happen again. “We owe it to passengers to understand what went wrong and how we stop this from happening in the future,” she shared via social media.
This isn’t the first time NATS has been under fire. Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon criticized the agency’s leadership, demanding Rolfe’s resignation and accusing them of not learning from last year’s similar failure involving automatic flight plan processing.
This latest setback comes just months after a power station fire in March stranded thousands at Heathrow, adding to concerns about the resilience of critical infrastructure at major UK airports.
For now, passengers are urged to check with their airlines before heading to the airport. Behind the cancellations are stories of missed weddings, delayed business meetings, and exhausted families—reminders that travel disruptions hit more than just numbers; they affect lives.
