Tourists whose flights were delayed by UK air traffic control and who were left crying at London Heathrow said, “It’s been a s*** show!” Reports from Europe’s busiest airport after a meltdown describe widespread confusion and aircraft cancellations. Written by: James Fielding and Arthur Parashar Modified: 28 August 2023, 15:02 EDT
Hundreds of flights in and out of the UK were cancelled today owing to a breakdown in air traffic control, leaving hundreds of stranded tourists at London Heathrow.
According to NATS, ‘technical difficulties’ necessitated a switch from an automatic to a manual method for landing and dispatching flights in Britain. The malfunction caused a day of chaos for irate tourists.
At 3.15pm, an update stated that the technical issue had been “identified and remedied,” although experts predict that significant disruption will persist throughout the week.
Thousands of tourists have been thrown into disarray on one of the busiest travel days of the year because as much as 80% of flights departing the UK are delayed today.Please only proceed to Heathrow Airport if your flight has been ‘confirmed to be running.’ Schedules still remain considerably disrupted at this time.In ten years, this was Alexandra Bass’s first overseas journey without her husband and daughter. It’s been a s***show from start to finish, the 42-year-old remarked between clenched teeth. Since I recently experienced heart failure and the prescription I require is in that suitcase, it is highly concerning that my flight to Lisbon was canceled earlier this afternoon and the airline has lost my luggage. I need to get on a later flight to Portugal tonight, but no one seems to know what’s going on or if any flights will actually take off.
“I don’t know who to believe and am in limbo,” one Heathrow employee said. “It’s ridiculous because some Heathrow staff have said there are and then others have said there aren’t.”Ms. Bass stated that she was unsure if she should remain at Heathrow in the event of a delayed flight or if she should book a hotel and return the following day.
“American Airlines and British Airways have been completely silent,” she continued.After leaving Florida at 5 a.m. yesterday, Ms. Bass remarked, “I’m exhausted because it’s been one issue after another” in reference to her travels.The initial holdup occurred because she was rerouted from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Dallas.
Then, when the jet finally landed at Heathrow, she had to wait another half an hour or so before passengers could leave. When she arrived at the terminal, however, she was informed that her aircraft to Libson would not be departing because of air traffic control concerns. ‘I’m supposed to be meeting a half-brother of mine,’ Ms. Bass said. We haven’t met in person but have been corresponding for the past decade. Inspite of my confidence that all will work out in the end, the lack of information is making me crazy. There are conflicting messages. As of 1:45 PM local time, approximately 78% of departing planes from Heathrow were running behind schedule.
According to Flight Radar, as of 6:20 PM, only 45% of flights are on time while 49% have been canceled. At 5:20 p.m. today, a Heathrow spokeswoman said, “The technical issue which limited UK air traffic today has been fixed by NATS.” There is still a major disruption to schedules.Only head to the airport if you have received official word that your flight will be leaving. We’re doing everything we can to help those impacted and lessen the damage. The cancellation of Osvaldo Demuru, 65’s, flight on Iberia Airlines to Madrid this afternoon has caused him significant difficulties.
Returning to his daughter’s house in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, he will try again tomorrow to catch his connecting flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
‘there’s been ridiculous,’ he added, “it was absolute chaos at the airport this afternoon.”It appeared like no one was aware of what was happening. I was hoping to make it to Buenos Aires on the later aircraft from Heathrow to Spain tonight after the earlier trip to Madrid was canceled.There is a lot of muddle, though. There has been harsh service from some of the personnel, and I get that this is a stressful time, but it is no excuse.My original flight has been postponed for tomorrow afternoon, and because I haven’t been able to obtain a clear response from anyone today, I’m going back to my daughter’s and will begin again tomorrow.It’s frustrating because my daughter drove me and my wife Patricia the forty minutes to Heathrow.
My daughter has invited my wife to stay with her for a few more months. The airline might have contacted us via email or phone to let us know in advance. It’s a total waste of gas money and time.Warren Culley, the facilities coordinator, is 34 years old and was planning to return to Belfast today.
He was in London for the weekend to see All Elite Wrestling at Wembley Stadium, but he couldn’t get home because of the weather. since he waited for his 5.15 p.m. departure, he complained, “I got to the airport really early as I checked out of the hotel at 11 a.m. this morning and came straight here.”I checked in and made it through security, only to find out that the flight was canceled due to a problem with air traffic control. Everything at Heathrow was called off, so we were told to get out of there.
It took over an hour due to the long lines at Terminal 5.Tempers, as you can expect, were flaring. I re-entered the terminal when I noticed that another British Airways flight to Belfast was listed for tonight.However, I was informed that flight had been canceled as well, and the BA mobile app still hasn’t been updated.That’s been giving us a lot of trouble because BA employees keep urging us to check the app, but the app is broken.Quite frankly, I can’t take it any more. I need to go look for a motel.
I called my boss to let him know I won’t be in tomorrow. I really want to get smashed! Former air traffic controller Michele Robson deemed such prolonged outages to be ‘rare. So, “nobody really knows at this point how long it’s going to take,” she said on BBC Radio 4. A Cobra meeting was requested by the Liberal Democrats and the Prime Minister was called to discuss the matter.
Wera Hobhouse, a representative for the transportation sector, has stated, “Rishi Sunak and his ministers need to get a grip on this issue urgently and hold a Cobra meeting.”We can’t risk this Government being absent once again if millions of tourists face major disruption in the coming days because of this defect.The people of Britain need to know that their government is taking all necessary measures to prevent catastrophic disruptions and delays in the days ahead. Simon Calder, a renowned travel expert, foresaw a “miserable” outcome.
He reported to Sky News that the system is at capacity and that hundreds of planes are in the air on their way to the United Kingdom.What’s going to happen to those planes, are any of them going to land as they seem to be in the area of the airfield? Planes that are on lengthier flights may be diverted or forced to remain on the ground in cities like Amsterdam. That usually means going to an airport in Europe or Ireland.
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