UK flights were disrupted on Wednesday by a technical glitch that was quickly resolved, according to the air traffic control service.

The number of aircraft in London’s airspace was limited by the service, known as NATS, as a result of a technical issue, causing airports including Gatwick and Edinburgh to stop departures.

NATS said in a statement it had “restored” the system and was “resuming normal operations” in London.

The issue affected its Swanwick site in southern England.

In separate statements on X, Edinburgh airport said it was working to “return to normal operations,” while Gatwick said “there are some delays… while operations resume”.

Gatwick said earlier that the issue had affected “all outbound flights across the UK”.

In 2023, NATS suffered the country’s worst systems failure in almost 10 years, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

AFP