Arsenal's journey to Italy for their forthcoming Champions League clash against Napoli was thrown into chaos as more than 1,000 flights were grounded due to widespread technical problems. The Gunners encountered significant delays in departing for Naples following air traffic control failures that left thousands of travellers stranded across Britain.
Press conference postponed
Boss Mikel Arteta had been scheduled to address the media at a press conference in Naples on Tuesday evening, alongside defender Riccardo Calafiori, ahead of the club's opening European fixture of the campaign. However, owing to the technical failure, players remained at the club's training ground before departing later for the airport.
As a result, the squad were not expected to touch down in Naples until approximately 9.30pm local time (8.30pm UK time).
System issue resolved
Nats, which oversees air traffic control services for 15 UK airports, confirmed the problem had been "resolved" following disruption to more than 400 flights. The "system issue" on Tuesday was rectified by 7.30pm, yet thousands of passengers continued to be affected by delays and cancellations at airports throughout the UK.
Many passengers were left "trapped" seated on planes on runways for hours, with others "stranded" at airports. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 reported that more than 1,000 flights had been cancelled at UK airports by approximately 8pm.
Airlines affected
Ryanair revealed that more than 65,000 of its passengers had been affected, with the budget carrier forced to cancel more than 50 scheduled services. British Airways (BA) confirmed it was compelled to cancel or divert more than 100 flights on Tuesday, affecting "tens of thousands of customers".
Nats' chief executive officer Martin Rolfe stated he "always" accepts "full responsibility" following the technical fault that triggered widespread flight disruption. He said: "I am the CEO of a piece of critical infrastructure, so it is my job to take responsibility for that."
"What I absolutely take responsibility for is keeping people safe and delivering the best service we possibly can on a day like today."
"You will understand my focus is entirely about how we actually resolve this issue, get things back to normal, help our airlines, our airport customers and the travelling public."
Nats said in a statement it was "investigating a technical issue" causing disruption to some flight departures, and later said it had identified the problem was in its "flight processing system".
Ryanair calls for resignation
Neal McMahon, Ryanair's chief operating officer, demanded Mr Rolfe's resignation, saying: "How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure Nats CEO Martin Rolfe accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns?".
"Over three years after Nats' catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it's clear that nothing has changed, with UK passengers once again suffering avoidable ATC (air traffic control) delays of up to eight hours today due a critical Nats ATC system failing."
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is scheduled to meet with Mr Rolfe on Wednesday ahead of addressing MPs in the Commons for the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill. Mr Rolfe stated that airlines would be best placed to provide information regarding the timeframe for resolving the continuing disruption.
