Airlines have cancelled dozens more flights to and from the UK today due to yesterday’s four-hour Air Traffic Control outage.
Every UK carrier warned some flights will be grounded due to crew and planes being stuck in the wrong locations, even though the technical fault at the UK’s National Air Traffic Services was fixed yesterday afternoon.
They have also warned of the possibility of severe or significant delays to any flights operating to and from the UK today.
British Airways
BA is understood to have cancelled 60 flights today and it is advising customers NOT to travel to the airport without checking the status of their flight, as it may be delayed or no longer be operating.
Any customers due to travel today on short-haul services can move their flights free of charge to a later date, subject to availability.
“We are also rebooking customers onto alternative airlines where possible and have stood up additional colleagues in our call centres to assist our customers,” it said.
EasyJet
The airline is believed to have grounded 80 flights to and from the UK today, the majority at London Gatwick. It is recommending that all passengers flying with today, regardless of their destination, check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.
Jet2
In a statement on its website, Jet2 said its team are ‘working incredibly hard’ to look after customers whose flight have been cancelled. The following services have been cancelled today:
LS169 – Manchester to Ibiza
LS809 – Manchester to Malaga
LS905 – Manchester to Crete (Heraklion)
LS953 – Manchester to Majorca (Palma)
LS1709 – Manchester to Athens
LS1719 – Manchester to Catania
LS759 – Manchester to Mahon
LS911 – Manchester to Crete (Heraklion)
LS931 – Manchester to Malta
LS951 – Manchester to Corfu
LS961 – Manchester to Dubrovnik
LS875 – Manchester to Faro (The Algarve)
LS917 – Manchester to Tenerife South
LS1245 – Birmingham to Ibiza
LS1275 – Birmingham to Majorca (Palma)
LS1431 – London Stansted to Dubrovnik
LS1577 – London Stansted to Crete (Heraklion)
LS217 – Leeds Bradford to Lanzarote (Arrecife)
LS261 – Leeds Bradford to Thessaloniki
LS443 – Leeds Bradford to Crete (Heraklion)
LS245 – Leeds Bradford to Split
LS303 – Belfast to Reus
TUI
In a message eon its website, TUI said: “We are expecting some delays to our programme and will be in touch with customers directly should travel plans change. Customers travelling on Tuesday 29 August should travel to the airport as usual, unless contacted directly by TUI and told otherwise.”
The technical fault, which left around 200,000 passengers stranded yesterday, is believed to have been caused by a flight planning software glitch.
It led to the cancellation of more than 1,500 flights to and from the UK on Bank Holiday Monday, 27% of all scheduled flights, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Heathrow was worst affected, followed by Gatwick and Manchester.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper described it as ‘the worst incident of its kind in nearly a decade’. He said an independent review into the incident will be carried out.