Face of Nation : British Airways said an air traffic control “outage” had hit flights going through French and Spanish airspace. EasyJet said it was experiencing disruption due to a “partial failure of French air traffic control systems”.
Paris Airport tweeted that a “national computer failure related to the centralisation of flight plans” on Sunday morning was now resolved. But it warned that delays were still expected.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it does not know how many flights have been affected but it is working with airlines in the UK to try to minimise disruption.
Gatwick Airport said passengers should check with airlines on the status of their flights before heading to the airport. EasyJet said it has been forced to cancel 180 flights out of just under 2,000 scheduled to take off on Sunday.
Affected passengers were contacted directly and given the option of transferring their flight for free or receiving a refund, it said.British Airways also urged customers to check the status of their flights online and said it expects disruption to services to France and Spain, as well as those which fly over these countries on the way to other destinations.
The airline said it would not release any cancellation figures but added any affected customers had been notified directly. It said it would offer flexible rebooking options for anyone who wants to change their dates of travel as a result of the disruption.
“This appears to be some kind of malfunction which has greatly reduced the flow rate [of flights] so there’s reports of pilots in Lisbon, for example, trying to get to the UK telling passengers we could be five hours late.”
He said affected passengers will not be eligible for compensation, explaining: “It’s not the airlines’ fault.” But he said the airlines have a strict duty of care, which means they must provide meals and if necessary accommodation to passengers.
He added: “They also have to rebook you on the first available flight, ideally on the same day, even if it means paying money to a rival to get you home.” The disruption is having a wider knock-on effect in the UK, with some flights from Scotland to England cancelled.
Richard Martin was due to fly from Edinburgh to London Stansted when EasyJet texted to say his flight had been cancelled. “We are booked on another flight tomorrow but I’m due to be back at work,” he said.
