Travel Weekly - Ian Taylor
The extent of disruption to UK air traffic on Monday could not be avoided, with aviation sources demanding “a reality check” following the meltdown caused by a system failure at air traffic control provider Nats.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported 790 departing flights and 785 incoming services were cancelled on Monday, 27% of the total, with most other flights delayed after a “technical issue” with Nats’ flight-planning system.
Passengers complained of poor communication by carriers and limited staff availability, and agents called for improved information for the trade.
Sources dismissed initial reports on the cause of the failure [cyber attack] as “speculation” and insisted: “There were no safety implications.” Nats later confirmed an issue with some of the data it had received had caused an automatic shutdown of its systems.
