Flight disruption that affected hundreds of thousands of passengers is expected to ease today. Technical glitches with air traffic control systems have resulted in more than 2,000 flights arriving or departing the UK being cancelled since Tuesday.
The disruption is expected to diminish on Thursday and flight schedules return to normal, although Martin Rolfe, the chief executive of National Air Traffic Services (Nats), has been urged to resign. Among those calling for Mr Rolfe to step down has been Michael O'Leary, the outspoken boss of budget airline Ryanair.
Ryanair chief criticises Nats CEO
On Wednesday, Mr O'Leary labelled Mr Rolfe's position "untenable" and he is likely to issue further criticism when he hosts Ryanair's annual general meeting at its headquarters near Dublin airport later on Thursday. Cancellations and delays persisted on Wednesday as airlines grappled with knock-on effects at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted.
This follows aviation analytics company Cirium stating that cancellations were slowing, with no flights cancelled for Thursday. Some 2,145 flights were impacted over the last two days, according to Cirium.
Impact at major airports
It reported a total of 399 flights were cancelled or did not fly on Wednesday. The worst affected airport was London Heathrow, which saw 79 out of a total of 666 departure flights affected, reports Wales Online.
Meanwhile, British Airways was the airline hit hardest, with 88 of its 507 flights scheduled to depart on Wednesday affected. The airline expressed its deep regret to its customers, stating that the issue had been "entirely out of our control".
Passenger rights and compensation
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated on Wednesday that passengers are "unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident".
A spokesperson for the CAA said: "We know many passengers have faced significant disruption and frustration following the Nats system issue on Tuesday September 8 and we understand the impact this has had on their travel plans."
They went on to add: "We consider that disruption caused by the Nats outage is likely to be considered the result of 'extraordinary circumstances' under passenger rights rules. This means that although passengers should be looked after by airlines, they are unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident."
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander informed MPs on Wednesday afternoon that she did not believe the air traffic control issue was "unavoidable". Nats also confirmed a comprehensive investigation will be undertaken into the matter.
A BA spokesperson said: "We've heard reassurances before, but then we're faced with issues like this yet again. Our customers and colleagues are tired of dealing with these issues, time after time. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency."
