Technical fault at UK air traffic control stops departures

London airports Heathrow and Gatwick are among those affected. At Gatwick, all departures were temporarily suspended, while Heathrow has also introduced restrictions on departing flights. Manchester and Stansted have also been affected. Reuters reports.

Nats, which is responsible for UK air traffic control, says that technicians are working on the problem.

“We are investigating a technical issue that is causing some disruption to departing flights. Our technicians are on site and we will provide an update as soon as we can,” Nats said in a statement.

Arriving flights have largely been able to continue, but delays are expected to spread as air traffic returns to normal. Travellers are urged to check their flight status with their airline.

This text is being updated.