Leeds Bradford Airport issues statement as air traffic control ‘technical issue’ causes delays
“Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest flight information.” ⚠️
A ‘technical issue’ at an air traffic control centre which caused disruptions to flights at Leeds Bradford Airport this morning has been resolved.
National Air Traffic Services (Nats) warned earlier today (September 21) that the problem was impacting airports across northern England and Scotland.
A LBA spokesperson confirmed that flights at the airport were disrupted this morning. The problem impacted both departures and arrivals on Monday and while the fault has been resolved, “residual delays” could continue into the afternoon.
The online flight board showed some plane journeys had been disrupted by as much as two hours at the West Yorkshire airport.
The LBA spokesperson explained: “The air traffic control service, NATS, is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting flights at airports across the UK, including at LBA.
“Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest flight information.
“LBA is working alongside its airline partners to ensure customers are on the move as soon as possible.”
A Nats spokesman said: “Our engineers are continuing to investigate the issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland.
“Airports south of Manchester are broadly unaffected, however flights heading north and flights departing Scottish airports are currently subject to some delay.
“Passengers should check with their airlines. This is unrelated to the issue two weeks ago. We apologise for the disruption.”
EasyJet has said the latest flight disruption “calls into question the resilience of Nats’ systems” after two air traffic control problems within one month.
The airline said in a statement: “A Nats air traffic control system failure in its Prestwick centre is causing delays to flights with some unable to operate.
“This, once again, calls into question the resilience of Nats’ systems and demonstrates the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures.
“We will do all we can minimise the impact of this for our customers and advise anyone due to fly today to check our flight tracker for the latest information.”
Jet2 has said customers and airlines need “action, accountability and proper resilience” after the latest Nats issue.
Chief executive Steve Heapy said: “This morning’s disruption comes days after Nats published a report into its latest major failure and it is simply not good enough for this critical national infrastructure to keep letting customers down.
“Customers work hard to look forward to their holidays and airlines work hard to deliver those holidays. They should not be repeatedly exposed to delays and disruption because the UK’s air traffic control systems cannot be relied upon.
“There have been too many incidents, too many reports and too many promises of lessons being learned.
“What customers and airlines need now is action, accountability and proper resilience, and we need it urgently.”
He added: “Make no mistake, we are counting the cost of this disruption and will be sending another bill to Nats.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on social media: “There has been a further IT issue affecting Nats.
“Engineers have fixed the problem and systems are resuming.
“I know this will be deeply frustrating for passengers after the previous issue.
“There may be some delays as things reset. Please check with your airline for updates.”