Air traffic control boss to meet UK transport secretary as second day of flight chaos takes cancellations past 1,300
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The boss of the air traffic control provider Nats has been summoned by the UK transport secretary, as flight chaos carried on into a second day after a system issue, with after more than 1,300 flights cancelled to and from UK airports.
National Air Traffic Services provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports. Its chief executive Martin Rolfe is due to speak to Heidi Alexander, before she addresses MPs in the Commons for the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill.
Tens of thousands of passengers have been caught up in the chaos, with more cancellations and delays expected as airlines deal with the knock-on effects at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted.
According to FlightRadar, 246 flights had been cancelled at Heathrow Airport by 6am on Wednesday, while Gatwick passengers faced 33 cancellations.
Rolfe said he “always accept(s) full responsibility” when asked if he was considering his position after the incident.
He told Sky News:
I am the CEO of a piece of critical infrastructure, so it is my job to take responsibility for that.
What I absolutely take responsibility for is keeping people safe and delivering the best service we possibly can on a day like today.
You will understand my focus is entirely about how we actually resolve this issue, get things back to normal, help our airlines, our airport customers and the travelling public.
The “technical issue” at the air traffic control services provider Nats caused Britain’s third major stoppage in just over three years. Nats said on Tuesday evening:
This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover.
The breakdown started at about 1pm on Tuesday and affected departing flights at many of Britain’s biggest airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted. By the time Nats said it had fixed its flight processing system almost four hours later, most flights scheduled to depart were yet to take off. The disruption spread to include incoming flights to much of southern England.
ShareUpdated at 02.35 EDT