Heathrow and Gatwick delays live: Hundreds of flights grounded at UK airports due to air traffic control glitch

Passengers at major UK airports including Heathrow have been plunged into chaos after a “technical issue” grounded a number of flights.

Departures are experiencing long delays on Tuesday afternoon after an air control issue left planes unable to take off or land safely.

The national air traffic control service (NATS) said in a statement: “We are investigating a technical issue which is causing some disruption to flight departures. Our engineers are on site and we will provide an update as soon as we can. We apologise for the delay this will cause to journeys, passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight. We will provide updates on nats.aero.”

Heathrow Airport posted on its X account: “The air traffic control service is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports. Arriving flights are not currently impacted. We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We will provide updated information when we have it. We apologise to those disrupted and advise passengers to check with their airline for latest flight information.”