Frustrated passengers caught out by the latest air traffic technical glitch have been stuck for hours at UK airports and on planes.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled across airports in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, affecting holiday and work plans for thousands of people.
The latest bout of disruption was due to a ‘technical issue’ affecting the National Air Traffic Services (Nats), the main provider for UK airports, less than two weeks after a similar incident affected around 2,000 flights.
One passenger who has spent all day travelling but is still halfway to his destination is Peter Allison, 39, from Edinburgh.
The director of Woven Whisky was scheduled to fly out from Edinburgh Airport to Bordeaux via Gatwick for a two-day work conference, which he has now missed half of.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro's newsletter or get alerts the moment it happens.
Shortly after boarding his 8.15am flight, the passengers were told there was a three-hour delay.
He told : ‘We couldn’t believe it. It sounded like a joke, like we had literally just sat down.’
After waiting for a while, the doors were opened and passengers were told they could disembark, but if they did, they would ‘forfeit any compensation or ability to get back on if and when the plane does leave,’ Peter said, adding that most people decided to wait until the plane was eventually able to take off to Gatwick.
He continued: ‘People were very frustrated. Hot. Bothered. Kids crying, people getting anxious etc. It was pretty bad.’
Updates from the captain were ‘sporadic and hard to follow’ due to ‘plane jargon and what sounded like excuses,’ while the crew were ‘pretty bad at communicating too’, he claimed.
Metro contacted easyJet for a comment.
He was left £100 out of pocket after buying new tickets for a connecting BA flight to Bordeaux, which was due to leave Gatwick shortly before 9pm but has since been cancelled.
When asked what he would tell Nats bosses, Peter said: ‘We all have to learn from times we’ve messed up.
‘You messed up a few weeks ago, and it’s happened again. Someone needs to a. figure it out, and b. get their knuckles wrapped.
‘It’s us, the travellers, who are having to deal with it. And it’s not very nice on anyone. People rely on you providing dependable services. So sort it out.’
Meanwhile, Finlay Mattheis, 22, from Goole, has spent more than 12 hours at Leeds-Bradford Airport.
The chef’s Ryanair flight to Bratislava, Slovakia, scheduled to leave at 7.55am was delayed until 9.35pm.
He told : ‘I’m only off for three nights as the flights were really cheap and I had intended to go and watch a football game tonight, but obviously that plan has died a death.’
When he heard that the flight had been pushed back until later tonight, he thought about going home to wait before finding out he could ‘leave the airport but not come back on the same boarding pass despite only living 50 minutes away.’
He said his flight was one of the worst affected, with many others being held back for ‘only one or two hours.’
Full statement from Nats
Here is the latest statement from the air traffic control provider Nats: ‘Early this morning (Monday 21 September) we experienced a network issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland. To maintain safety, air traffic regulations were applied to manage traffic demand while our engineers investigated. It is nothing to do with the problem we had earlier this month.
‘The issue has now been fixed and we are running at full capacity. We are working closely with our customers to recover their residual delays and help get their operations back to normal.
‘We apologise to passengers for the disruption and thank them for their patience. Passengers should continue to check with their airline for the latest information on their flight.’
Disrupted passengers are unlikely to get compensation, the Civil Aviation Authority warned.
This is because technical issues are considered an extraordinary circumstance, which is out of the airlines’ control – as was the case with the disruption earlier this month.
However, airlines are required to look after passengers during delays such as handing out food and drinks.
Several airlines have criticised the air traffic provider, and Ryanair’s chief operating officer, Neal McMahon, called for the Nats boss Martin Rolfe to resign.
US flights disrupted after ‘fibre cable accident’
While flights in the UK were resuming normal operations, US airports suffered an air traffic control issue, causing ground delays and chaos at many of the country’s busiest airfields across the northeast.
Affected airports include New York’s JFK and LaGuardia airports, New Jersey’s Newark Airport, Boston’s Logan International, and Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia International Airport.
US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that construction crews accidentally cut into a fibre line in New Jersey.
At least 183 flights have reportedly been axed, and 197 are delayed.
Plane tracking website Flightradar24 said no commercial flights landed at Newark Airport between 9.38am and 5.22pm today until. Arrivals at the New Jersey airport resumed shortly after 10pm, it said.
The incident struck as world leaders are preparing to meet for the United Nations General Assembly in New York City tomorrow (Tuesday).
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s plane was already in the air before the US issue began, and is expected to land as planned.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
MORE: The 4 best hotels in the UK revealed — with spas, Michelin food and a martini trolley
MORE: British Airways launch flight to ‘bucket list’ country after 13 years
MORE: Lime bike bans rider who put middle finger up after weaving around pedestrians