• Thursday, May 02, 2024

News

Air travel disruption to last for days

Government officials do not believe the technical problem is the result of a cyber attack: Transport secretary

Travellers wait near the British Airways check-in area at Heathrow Airport, as Britain’s National Air Traffic Service restricts air traffic due to a technical issue causing delays, in London, Britain, on August 28, 2023. (REUTERS/Hollie Adams)

By: Chandrashekar Bhat

TRANSPORT secretary Mark Harper said it would take days to resolve the widespread disruption to flights into and out of the country after air traffic control systems were hit by a technical problem.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed on Monday (28) – one of the UK’s busiest travel days – after air traffic controllers were forced to switch to manual systems.

Harper added that government officials did not believe the technical problem was the result of a cyber attack.

“There is going to be some knock on impact today and I suspect for another few days as airlines get their planes and get their services back to normal,” Harper told the BBC on Tuesday (29).

Heathrow Airport, Britain’s busiest hub, told passengers on X, formerly known as Twitter, to contact their airline before travelling to the airport on Tuesday.

Airlines said they were making changes to their schedules to try and fly as many people as possible but some planes and crews were not where they should have been.

“We’re working as hard as possible to get affected customers on their way again,” British Airways said on X.

(Reuters)

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