Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scottish flights hit with huge delays due to ‘air traffic control failure’ across UK

The issue is fixed but passengers still face delays and cancellations.

Flightradar screenshot of planes stuck on the ground at Heathrow.
Planes are backed up on the ground at Heathrow. Image: Flightradar

Flights from Scotland have been hit with massive delays amidst a “failure” of air traffic control services.

Passengers are still facing cancelled or delayed flights across all Scottish airports including Aberdeen and Inverness.

Those flying from London to Scotland have been told to expect delays of up to 12 hours, lasting well into the early hours.

Queuing British Airways passengers at check-in desks at Inverness Airport.
British Airways passengers at Inverness Airport waiting for news. Image: Ross Hempseed/DC Thomson

NATS, the country’s leading provider of air traffic control, said at 3.15pm that it had “identified and remedied” the technical issue affecting its systems and it was working with airlines and airports to support affected flights.

Major UK airlines such as Tui and BA have warned of “significant delays” for passengers amid changes to schedules.

The NATS statement added: “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 as we return to normal operations.

“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.”

Have you been affected by the delays? Call us on 01224 343311 or e-mail livenews@ajl.co.uk

Everything we know so far about air traffic control failure

  • NATS says UK airspace is not closed but “restrictions” are in place.
  • All airlines have been affected by the disruption.
  • Engineers are currently working to find the fault.
  • Airports have advised passengers to check with their airlines before arriving.
  • Airlines are continuously revising departure times with some Scottish flights now pushed back as much as 12 hours.
  • More cancellations are expected to be announced through the day.

How long will the air traffic delays last?

While the issue may have been resolved delays in aircraft movements still remain, with airports now trying to get through the backlog of flights.

It is understood some passengers had already boarded planes when the issue arose, forcing aircraft to wait on the ground while full.

A spokesperson for AGS Airports, which operates Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, said:  “Air traffic control provider NATS is currently experiencing a technical issue across its UK-wide airspace network.

Departure boards at Aberdeen (L) and Inverness (R) showing delayed or cancelled flights. Image: DC Thomson.

“It is anticipated that services operating to and from our airports will be impacted. We would ask passengers to check with their individual airlines for updates.”

“We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will provide further updates when we can.”

Easyjet flights have also been affected several to and from Inverness and Aberdeen delayed.

In a social media post, the airline wrote: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while these circumstances are outside of our control, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to reassure customers that we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption.

Loganair has warned there is expected to be disruption to its services throughout the day.

The airline said in a social media post: “National Air Traffic Services advises that the computer issue impacting flights across the UK today has been located and fixed.

“We are taking every possible step to operate flights for the remainder of today, although, with a major backlog of flights at most UK airports.

A spokesman for Hial which operates Inverness Airport and other smaller airport, said: “Inverness Airport like many other airports across the country has been affected by the issues with the national UK air traffic control system, with a number of flights experiencing delays.

“The airport team is working closely with our airline partners to manage the delays.”