Passengers using airports in the south of England have been affected by technical problems at a major air traffic control centre.
NATS, the UK’s air traffic controller, said that it had been forced to restrict the number of aircraft flying across southern England on Tuesday morning (July 9) as well as limiting those being allowed to take off from airports in the region. But the organisation stressed that it had not closed UK airspace or suspended all flights in and out of the UK.
The air traffic controller said it resolved the problem at its control centre in Swanwick at around 12.35 on Tuesday but airlines and airports have warned of "knock-on" delays to flights for the rest of the day.
"NATS has identified and corrected the technical problem that has been affecting air traffic control systems in the south of England," it said in a statement.
"Operations are now returning to normal and we are working with the airports, airlines and Eurocontrol to clear the backlog of flights to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.
"Outbound delays from the UK have generally been limited to 20 minutes. We regret any inconvenience this technical problem has caused, however our first priority will always be the safety of the flying public."
Heathrow warned that "flights from Heathrow on southern routes may be subject to delay" due to the problems at the Swanwick centre.
Easyjet said in a statement : "Easyjet has been advised that air traffic control radar in southern England is now being returned to full capacity, this is after an earlier reduction in service caused by a temporary fault.
"Due to the backlog of aircraft, several air traffic control restrictions will remain in place for the next few hours. Delays are reducing, however it is likely that some flights will continue to run with delays for the remainder of the day as a knock-on from this morning’s problems."
Southampton airport said in a tweet: "There are a few short delays but passengers are asked to arrive at the airport and check in as normal. There have been no cancellations today."
The latest information is available on the NATS website