Irish air passengers have been warned they face delays after UK air traffic control systems were hit by a technical fault.
Dublin and Cork Airport bosses are advising all passengers due to travel on Monday to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus have cancelled a number of flights out of and returning to Dublin Airport on Monday. Services are also understood to be impacted at Cork.
Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers said there may be significant delays for some Irish passengers.
He told Newstalk radio: "We'd encourage people to contact their airlines, but [the air traffic restrictions] will have significant implications for Irish passengers who are travelling to Ireland and travelling from Ireland as well."
The UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it has applied traffic flow restrictions on Monday to maintain safety following a technical issue.
The UK national air traffic control service @NATS is working to resolve a technical issue. UK airspace is not closed but @NATS has applied air traffic flow restrictions to ensure they can maintain safety. Please contact your airline for the very latest status of your flight. https://t.co/sOJC80avBY
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) August 28, 2023
In a statement, NATS said: “We are currently experiencing a technical issue and have applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety.
“Engineers are working to find and fix the fault. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
DAA, which operates Dublin Airport and Cork Airport, said the issues were resulting in delays to some flights in and out of the major hubs.
It said it would advise all passengers due to travel on Monday to “check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of travelling”.
“Passengers due to travel today are advised to check the status of their flight with their respective airline in advance of travelling.”
Aer Lingus said: “Due to a failure of the UK air traffic control flight planning systems, which is outside of Aer Lingus’ control, there are severe restrictions on all flights into the UK and flying over UK airspace today.
“We would ask you to check the status of your flight before coming to the airport today as delays and cancellations are likely.”
https://t.co/7ReFgKGB3N
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) August 28, 2023
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Ryanair said: “Due to another UK ATC failure, Ryanair will be forced to delay/cancel a number of flights to/from the UK today, Mon Aug 28TH.
“All affected passengers will be notified of their options to change flights (free of charge) to another Ryanair flight or receive a full refund.”
Shannon Airport said the forced restriction of aircraft flow has resulted in the cancellation of the outbound (FR1182) and inbound (FR1183) Ryanair Gatwick service.
A spokesperson for Shannon Airport has advised all passengers due to travel from Shannon on Monday afternoon to check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of travelling.
Ireland West Airport, also known as Knock Airport, said passengers are advised to expect delays on some flights.
In a statement, it said: “As a result of air traffic control issues in the UK, passengers are advised to expect delays and disruption to some flights.”
A London Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: “As a result of national airspace issues there is disruption to flights across the UK. Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest information.
“We are working closely with NATS and other airport partners to minimise the impact this has on passengers.”
Meanwhile, Scottish airline Loganair warned customers they may experience delays as a “network-wide failure” has affected air-traffic control systems on Monday morning.
The Glasgow-based airline posted on X, formerly Twitter: “There has been a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems this morning.
“Although we are hopeful of being able to operate most intra-Scotland flights on the basis of local co-ordination and with a minimum of disruption, north-south and international flights maybe subject to delays.
“If you are flying with us today, please check our website for the latest information about your flight before setting off for the airport.”
At London Stansted Airport, Ryanair passengers said they were told to wait at their gate until further notice.
British Airways said in a statement: “We are working closely with NATS to understand the impact of a technical issue that is affecting UK airspace and will keep our customers up to date with the latest information.”
Michele Robson, who used to work in air traffic control, said that it was “unusual” for failures to last this long.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “There was a flight planning system failure this morning which affected both centres in the UK.”
Speaking from Jersey Airport while waiting to fly to London, she said: “Now they have enough data for four hours for controllers to work normally. After that point, they have to go manual which means that they work at a much slower rate so they can handle far less aircraft.
“So it looks like there’s been what they would call a zero rate put on, where it means that no aircraft can take off inbound to the UK or probably outbound. It would generally be them trying to land things that were already in the air.
“So at the moment, we’re just sitting here with no definite takeoff time.”
She said failures normally “only last a couple of hours”.
“It’s unusual for it to be off for this amount of time. So nobody really knows at this point how long it’s going to take.”
BBC presenter Gabby Logan said she had been caught up by the issue.
She posted on X: “On a plane on the runway at Budapest airport. After almost 3 weeks away from home I am hours from hugging my family.
“And have just been told UK airspace is shut. We could be here for 12 hours. So we sit on the plane and wait.”
