Heathrow Chaos: Air Traffic Control Glitches Cause Flight Cancellations

Heathrow Airport witnessed cancellations of at least 16 flights due to technical failures in Britain's air traffic control system. The disruption, affecting multiple UK airports, prompted National Air Traffic Services to utilize a backup system. Transport minister Heidi Alexander seeks to understand the disruption's cause and prevention strategies.

Amidst a nationwide air travel disruption, Heathrow Airport faced cancellations of 16 flights on Thursday, following a technical glitch in Britain's air traffic control system. The problem, affecting several airports, was managed by switching to a backup, as confirmed by National Air Traffic Services (NATS).

This recent incident at NATS, occurring just two years after a similar outage, led to 122 flight cancellations and impacted airports like Gatwick near London and Edinburgh in Scotland. Transport minister Heidi Alexander aims to discuss preventive measures in a meeting with NATS' chief executive Martin Rolfe.

Adding to the chaos, Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, had previously been affected by a fire in March, highlighting ongoing challenges. Ryanair's COO Neal McMahon has called for the resignation of Rolfe, criticizing previous lessons unlearnt since past disruptions.

(With inputs from agencies.)