London flights delayed after computer failure

UK air traffic control says systems have been restored and are in process of returning to normal operations.

Heathrow is one of the world's busiest international airports with over 67 million passengers travelling through it annually [EPA]

Airspace over London was briefly closed due to computer failure, European air traffic control body, Eurocontrol, has said. UK air traffic control said later on Friday that systems had been restored and they were in the process of returning to normal operations. Earlier, the Eurocontrol had said that airspace over the UK capital would be closed until 1900 GMT.

NATS, Britain's national air traffic service, said it suffered a technical problem at its air traffic control centre in Swanwick, southern England. The shutdown came at a busy time at the start of the weekend in a sprawling city with five commercial airports, including London Heathrow, Europe's busiest, as well as Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City Airports. In a statement, Heathrow airport said: "There is a power outage at the NATS control centre in Swanwick, which is affecting UK airspace. Flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information." "Every possible action is being taken to assist in resolving the situation and to confirm the details,'' the statement said. British Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said he had asked for a full explanation for Friday's "simply unacceptable" aviation disruption. "Any disruption to our aviation system is a matter of the utmost concern, especially at this time of year in the run up to the holiday season," he said in a statement. "Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked NATS for a full explanation of this evening's incident. "I also want to know what steps will be taken to prevent this happening again," he added. Plagued by problems Airline security analyst Chris Yates told the AP news agency that such computer issues happen rarely. One that occurred about two and a half years ago resulted in disruptions that lasted for days. The Swanwick centre has been plagued by problems since it opened more than a decade ago. It only swung into operation in 2002,  six years after its planned commissioning date and double its original budget. Software and reliability issues have caused repeated disruption since. Heathrow is one of the world's busiest international airport. Over 67 million passengers travel through it annually on services offered by 90 airlines travelling to over 180 destinations in over 90 countries, according to its website.

Source:

Agencies