Departures at two major London airports have been halted as other airports across the UK deal with air traffic control issues.

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.’

Heathrow Airport said in a statement: ‘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.’

Belfast City Airport warned of ‘some disruption’ to flights following the technical issue affecting air traffic controllers.

Birmingham Airport said the air traffic technical issue is affecting airspace in the south of the UK.

A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: ‘There is currently an air traffic technical issue affecting airspace in the south of the UK, which is impacting a significant number of departing flights across the country.’

Jersey Airport said it was also affected by a technical issue with air traffic control.

Manchester Airport Group, the company that operates Manchester Airport, Stansted Airport in Essex and East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, said flights from all three had been affected by the air traffic control issue.

One traveller wrote on X: ‘Luton Airport too. We’re stranded on the actual plane!’

Another person said they were stuck on a plane in Manchester. Others reported issues in Cardiff, Exeter, Bristol and Alicante.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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