Flight disruptions loom across UK over systems glitches

Flights en route United Kingdom will be experiencing disruptions over a “technical issue” that hit air traffic control systems, authorities have said.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services said it was experiencing “technical issues” and has “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety”.

“Engineers are working to find and fix the fault. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

No further information was provided about what caused it or how long it would take to fix.

Earlier Scottish airline Loganair said on social media site X, formerly Twitter, that there had been a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems, warning some flights may face delays.

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According to BBC News, broadcaster Gabby Logan also said on X she was on a plane on a runway at Budapest airport and had “just been told UK airspace is shut”, adding “We could be here for 12 hours”.

Emmet Lyons, a journalist for BBC’s US partner CBS News, said he had received an update from EasyJet while sitting on the tarmac in Spain.

The airline said it the air traffic control issue was “currently affecting all flights due to fly into or out of United Kingdom airspace”.

“We are working with the relevant authorities to understand the impact of this issue and the timescale for normal operations to resume,” it said.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.