More than 1,000 flights cancelled or diverted as airlines deal with the fallout from a technical failure in the UK air traffic system
More than 1,000 flights between India and the UK have been cancelled or diverted following a technical failure in Britain’s air traffic control system, disrupting services operated by Air India, IndiGo and British Airways.
The National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK’s air traffic control provider, has restored the affected system. However, airlines and airports are continuing to face significant disruption as they work to clear a backlog of flights and reposition aircraft and crew.
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Several India-UK services were among those affected. Air India flight AI 2107 from Delhi to London Heathrow was diverted to Paris, while flight AI 131 from Mumbai to London was diverted to Zurich
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The latter, carrying nearly 300 passengers, was subsequently cancelled, with passengers asked to disembark in Zurich
IndiGo also reported disruptions to two India-bound services. Its Delhi-London flight was diverted to Paris, while its Mumbai-London service was diverted to Amsterdam. The return legs of both flights were cancelled.
Air India said the NATS technical fault had forced it to divert, delay or cancel multiple flights to and from the UK. It warned that other services could also face delays because aircraft and crew had been left out of position following the disruption.
The airline urged passengers to check their flight status before travelling to the airport and said it was monitoring the situation and working to limit further disruption.
British Airways said it had diverted or cancelled more than 100 flights, with the disruption leaving aircraft and crew in the wrong locations.
Although NATS has restored its services, normal operations are expected to take time to resume fully as airlines work through the accumulated backlog.
