UK air traffic control chaos leaves Brits stranded in airports across the world
Families travelling to and from the UK are facing several hours of grinding delays after British air space was partially shuttered due to a technical issue.
Engineers spent more than three hours scrambling to resolve the problem, but countless travellers are still stranded as they're told they could be waiting until the early hours of tomorrow morning before they can board a flight.
As countless flights have been grounded, unable to take off or land in the UK, airports not just in the UK but around Europe and beyond have been affected. The impact of today's technical issue is expected to have a knock-on effect lasting days. One retired barrister, who is stuck in Sardinia, has claimed an easyJet pilot told her he'd not seen an incident like this in 20 years.
Follow our coverage of today's air traffic control chaos with our liveblog here
Snaking queues at Manchester Airport (ZENPIX LTD)A number of flyers have contacted The Mirror to share the extent of their travel woes today. Messaging us from the airport, Lauren Haynes said: "Currently sat on the runway of a very full RyanAir flight in Crete. Should have taken off two hours ago. Not able to disembark. Airport full. Everyone is tired and stressed out. Not a good way to end our holiday."
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Michele Mathers summarised her ordeal, adding: "Two kids 14 & 11. No food no drink Grounded inside the plane for nearly two hours. Travelling back to Manchester hopefully."
Gemma Saleh, a 43-year-old retired barrister who teaches part-time at law school and lives in Newcastle, told the PA news agency she boarded an easyJet flight with her family at 11.30am Sardinia time (10.30am London time), which was headed for Gatwick, and she remained on the plane for close to two hours.
She said: “We were told as we started to taxi there was an issue with the air traffic computer but he didn’t know more and we’d wait on the tarmac till we got a slot. [The pilot] also said as we are ‘rescue’ we would be able to find a slot soon, maybe 30 mins. He’s not seen this in 20 years.”
Mrs Saleh, along with her husband, who is 43 and a surgeon, and their two children, who are 10 and eight, alongside other passengers on the flight, then got put on buses to head back to the terminal to “wait it out there”. She added that easyJet provided free snacks and she is not sure when she will return home, with this flight having already been delayed since Sunday.
Meanwhile, Daniela Walther, 44, was supposed to leave Heathrow for Stuttgart, Germany, on a BA flight at 5.25pm but it will now leave later than 1am. She told PA that the staff have been helpful but it “took a while to find someone to talk to”. She added: “I know it’s going to be long but on the other hand I don’t dare to leave because I don’t want to miss information, and I don’t know if I don’t get it on my phone.”
Michelle Mathers is trapped on her plane as the flight awaits take off (Michelle Mathers)Irene Franklin, 60, had her Delta flight back to Austin, Texas, with her daughter, son-in-law and two friends cancelled at the last minute because of the fault. She told PA news agency outside Terminal 3: “It was (saying delayed by) two hours, now it’s cancelled. It’s now not until tomorrow morning at 10. It’s frustrating but what are you going to do?”
When asked if she had been offered compensation, she said: “No. Not for a place to stay tonight, not for a cab ride. The Delta customer service was really helpful, he got us onto the same flight with seats together but he didn’t really do anything else. We have a hotel booked but we have to pay for it and our meals.”
Lyudmila Hristova, 57, said her and her husband’s plans to attend her niece’s wedding in Bulgaria were “ruined” after BA cancelled their 2pm flight from Heathrow to Sofia. Mrs Hristova, from Catford in south-east London, told PA: “The flight was cancelled and now we are looking for some information on how we can arrange another flight.
"Delayed at Malaga airport for possibly ‘many hours’, and they’ve ran out of beer at the terminal," the TV star shared (Twitter/ @jordannorth1)“It is so difficult, they just got us out of the airport, it was very rude. There was no information, just some leaflets and that’s it. Everything is ruined. We don’t know (when we will be able to fly). We are waiting for emails from them.”
Her husband Hristo Hristov, 60, said: “It was not good customer service at all. They gave us a leaflet and numbers. They have not rebooked our plane, they only gave us a £10 coffee voucher.”
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BBC presenter Gabby Logan, 50, was one of those caught up in the chaos as she attempted to fly back to the UK from the Hungarian capital after covering the World Athletics Championships. A tweet on her official Twitter account read: "On a plane on the runway at Budapest airport.
"After almost 3 weeks away from home I am hours from hugging my family. And have just been told UK airspace is shut. We could be here for 12 hours. So we sit on the plane and wait." She followed that up with a couple of further posts but still found time to have a joke at her own expense. "Nb It’s allowing traffic in there’s already airborne but nothing else to take off," she wrote. "Now regretting my decision to miss breakfast."
Kids are "crying" at the overheated East Midlands Airport, according to a Stoke Live reporter stranded there (Supplied)Former I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! star and Burnley BBC 1 radio presenter Jordan North took to Twitter to reveal that he had been caught in the delays as he told his followers that he is stuck in Malaga. "Delayed at Malaga airport for possibly ‘many hours’, and they’ve ran out of beer at the terminal," the TV star shared as he posted a picture inside the airport bar.
One family who paid almost £30,000 for a private jet to take their daughter to Cannes for her eighth birthday have turned around to return home because they can't be "bothered" to wait out the gruelling delays. Abby Hollingworth, 34, from Chester, said the disruption has left her daughter "disappointed" that they had to cancel their £27,000 flight to the south of France.
"We were heading to Cannes for a holiday and we were told we can maybe go tomorrow. The knock on delays may mean it’s not worth it," Ms Hollingworth told Mail Online. "My husband is a pilot and flies private jets. He says it’s the first time he has ever seen this happen. My daughter was disappointed but what’s made it easier is everyone is in the same situation. We’ve turned around and headed home, we just decided we couldn’t be bothered. The reality is, nobody is going anywhere so it doesn’t really matter."
In among those passengers looking to fly from the UK is StokeonTrentLive reporter Flora Byatt, who is at East Midlands Airport with mum Annabel Stoddard, aged 49, and her seven-year-old brother Ted Nixon. The family had been due to get on a Jet2 flight to Tenerife at 3.25pm.
Speaking from the airport, Flora said: "So far our flight to Tenerife South from East Midlands is still on time. But the airport is chaos. It’s packed, there’s nowhere to sit, and kids are crying. A guy at the bar said there are eight-hour delays."
Flora says she has been given no official update on the issue. But tracking her flight with Jet2, an update from the airline stated: "UK air traffic control are reporting a significant failure of their systems resulting in significant delays to all flights departing from and returning to the UK."
Flora added: "It's my brother's first time abroad and he's already anxious. It's our first holiday as a family. I have never seen East Midlands Airport this busy before. I fly from here around three times a year. People are still boarding but I don't see any planes taking off. There are no spare seats in the entire airport. It's hot and there are kids crying."
Social media has also been buzzing with complaints as passengers call out their flight providers for shoddy service. Tagging Wizz Air, one man said: "I’m in Brasov (Romania) airport since 11am. Now is 17:16pm, no one can tell us why we have this delay! My app shows that I arrived to London Luton as normal! What is going on?!"
Simon Hubbard took a swipe at Gatwick as he complained of the conditions passengers were being forced to wait in: "[Gatwick Airport] you really need to review your departure gates at LGW 101-106 NT are far to small. Passengers end up like cattle sat on the floor as there are hardly any seats. Even worse when the flight is delayed. Sort it out!!!!!!!"
Roger Smith, told his flight carrier EasyJet that he was being forced to wait for 12 hours. His message read: "[EasyJet] currently sat at Pisa airport where there are no staff to ask for information. Was due to fly at 16:20 and the app is showing a 12 hour delay. Please provide some more information. I have sent a DM 3 hours ago, but no reply from your side."
"Stuck on the ground at [Edinburgh Airport] all flights in and out London currently suspended due to an ATC computer failure," added Engineering Lecturer Kevin Murphy-Steele.
One Twitter user wrote: "What’s wrong with London airports today? We are stuck in Istanbul due to radar issues + electric problems at Stanstead airport which apparently is the same in Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton?!?!?!"
Tagging Gatwick Airport, Justine Duhart also wrote on Twitter: "We’re being held off at Zakynthos airport in an aircraft without air con and they’re saying Gatwick is closed/ATC not allowing us to land. Could we please have updates from you?"
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