The chaos caused by a technical failure in the air control systems in the United Kingdom forced the cancellation of more than 1,100 flights and can result in a bill of more than 100 million pounds (116 million euros) to the companies, according to what he declared to the BBC Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
The situation at British airports began to normalize throughout Wednesday, after two days of disruption at the airports, with more than 6,000 flights in and out of the country affected in full return operation and on the days with the highest air traffic in the anus.
Martin Rolfe, director of the National Air Traffic Service (Nats), confirmed that the “technical error” in the control systems lasted seven hours and was due to the receipt of “an incorrect flight plan” that led to the system crashing and forced manual processing.
Prime Minister” Rishi Sunak intervened for the first time in the situation created by the air chaos and urged airlines to “fulfill their obligations and responsibilities to passengers.” “I understand how frustrating all this can be for families,” stressed the premier, who insisted on the need to “support the people and give them access to compensation” for the disorders caused.
According to Rolfe, the ability to control traffic was severely reduced, but it did not force the airspace to be completely closed, as several British media initially reported. “There are no indications that a cyber attack had occurred,” concluded the Nats director, who sent the preliminary report on the causes of the technical failure to Transportation Secretary Mark Harper.
According to The Daily Mail, the incorrect data on the flight plan that caused the system to crash may have come from a French airline, although this information has not been officially confirmed.
An estimated 200,000 passengers have been affected by flight cancellations and delays. The British Government has expressed its concern about the situation in which thousands of families have found themselves, forced to spend the night at airports and abandoned to their fate by airlines.
Consumer advocacy group Which? has demanded urgent action from the Civil Aviation Authority to force the companies to assist passengers. “We are receiving dozens of complaints from people forced to sleep on the floor, surrounded by cockroaches and receiving hardly any information from the companies,” said Rory Boland, director of the magazine “Which? Travel.”
After three days of waiting at the Gran Canaria airport, Chanel Acheampong recounted her odyssey to the ITV program Good Moring Britain: “We are eight members of a family traveling: my niece is diabetic and we barely have any insulin left. The company “He said it wasn’t his problem, but we desperately need to get home to get the medication.”
Danny Underdown recounted his experience from Turkey, where he is still waiting for a plane back to London: “They told us at first that our flight was not going to be affected. They took us to a waiting room, we were there for seven or eight hours without information “, until they took us to a hotel three hours from the airport. The next day we got on the bus, we thought we were going to the airport but they took us to another hotel. Many people travel with small children and have had problems finding diapers.”
London airports were also overwhelmed by the suspension of more than 700 departure flights. 80% of flights departing from Heathrow were still affected by delays throughout Wednesday, following the cancellation of more than 70 flights on Tuesday. Airport management urged passengers to check the status of their flights before arriving at the terminal and warned that schedules will be “significantly altered” in the coming days.