• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
British Airways pilot gives verdict on when UK air space will re-open again after 'technical issue'

Home> News> UK News

Updated 16:01 28 Aug 2023 GMT+1Published 16:00 28 Aug 2023 GMT+1

British Airways pilot gives verdict on when UK air space will re-open again after 'technical issue'

Many flights to and from the UK are currently grounded

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A British Airways pilot has given their verdict on when UK air space will re-open again following news of a widespread 'technical issue'.

Many flights to and from the UK are currently grounded due to a technical problem with traffic control, with the National Air Traffic Controller Service (NATS) telling LADbible: "We are currently experiencing a technical issue and have applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety. Engineers are working to find and fix the fault.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please check with your airline on the status of your flight. We will provide updates on www.nats.aero for the latest news and on X - @NATS.

Advert

"To be clear, UK airspace is not closed, we have had to apply air traffic flow restrictions which ensures we can maintain safety."

A number of popular airports in the UK and Ireland have warned of severe delays and potential cancellations, including London Luton, Belfast and Dublin Airport.

Many planes are currently grounded.
Stela Di/Pixabay

While some flights are still safely landing, many locations face a significantly reduced 'flow rate', with few planes arriving on time.

And speaking to The Mirror earlier today, a British Airways pilot warned that the backlog of affected services could be 'big' and that the knock-on effect will be felt for some time.

Advert

The pilot - who asked to remain anonymous - said issues with NATS air traffic control system have caused delays of around 700 minutes, or nearly 12 hours, for most airlines operating in the UK.

They explained: "No one knows when it is going to get fixed. They're having to manually process every flight plan, instead of the system doing it for them.

"When you put a flight plan in for a flight it gets approved automatically, as long as it's compliant with restrictions. Instead of system automatically approving it they all have to be processed. A person has to physically do that. It is a big backlog."

They added: "Aircraft will be out of position for tomorrow and the knock-on effect will be felt for a while. But it just takes a couple of cancellations to get things back in order.

"As soon as it gets fixed, all the flight plans will be processed immediately. It can be fixed as quickly as it is broken. In half an hour's time if it's fixed, you'll have a bunch of delays. The longer it goes on the worse it gets. It's a turn it off and back on situation."

Advert

A BA pilot has warned the knock-on effects may be felt for a while.
Rudy and Peter Skitterians/Pixabay

In an updated statement to LADbible, NATS confirmed that the issue has now been 'remedied', but that it was continuing to manage affected flights.

"We have identified and remedied the technical issue affecting our flight planning system this morning," a spokesperson said.

"We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible.

"Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance over the next few hours as we return to normal operations.

Advert

"The flight planning issue affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans, meaning that flight plans had to be processed manually which cannot be done at the same volume, hence the requirement for traffic flow restrictions.

"Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing. Please contact your airline for information on how this may affect your flight."

Featured Image Credit: Pexels / Twitter/@flightradar

Topics: UK News, Travel

Jess Hardiman
Jess Hardiman

Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

X

@Jess_Hardiman

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Key information second black box from Air India crash will reveal as investigators find it

    Investigations are ongoing after the plane crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad last week

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    ‘Hero’ Air India pilot ‘saved dozens of lives’ with last minute decision moments before crash with 242 people on board

    All but one on board the flight died as others were killed on the ground

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Expert reveals how Iran could 'use secret agents to sabotage UK' following chilling threat

    Iran said it had launched some 100 missiles following Israel’s attack on its nuclear infrastructure which killed at least 224 people

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Son of mum who died in horror skydiving accident recalls chilling joke she made before her death

    Mum-of-four Belinda Taylor and her instructor died in a skydiving incident on Friday (13 June)

    News
  • Air India issue full statement on UK-bound plane crash confirming 53 British nationals onboard
  • Incredible story of British Airways pilot who was sucked out of plane mid-flight and survived
  • Pilot of tragic Air India flight made heartbreaking promise to father days before crash
  • Everything we know about British man who was sole survivor of Air India plane crash in miracle of seat 11A