Flights to and from Cyprus were among hundreds cancelled or delayed on Tuesday following a major technical failure in the UK’s air traffic control system.
The outage, which stemmed from a fault in the system that processes flight plans, triggered severe disruption across Britain’s aviation network.
According to air traffic service provider NATS, engineers are working to fully restore systems. While UK airspace remains open, traffic capacity has been significantly restricted, with industry experts warning that disruptions will persist for hours as airlines re-route displaced aircraft and aircrews.
More than 400 flights across the UK have been cancelled so far, while over 600 others faced extensive delays. Heathrow Airport saw around 100 cancellations and 367 delays, while 31% of departures from Gatwick were delayed.
Inbound flights to London were held on the ground across European airports or diverted to Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, and Düsseldorf.
The operational chaos extended directly to Cyprus, where operator Hermes Airports confirmed that at least eight flights between the UK and the island have been cancelled.
At Larnaca Airport, three arrivals and three departures to and from London were cancelled, including a flight scheduled for Wednesday morning.
At Paphos Airport, three arrivals from London and one from Manchester were called off, alongside their corresponding outbound departures.
