Air traffic restored in Britain after brief technical glitch

LONDON -- A technical glitch temporarily disrupted flights in Britain on Wednesday but was resolved soon, according to the country's air traffic control service.

Flights were grounded at Gatwick, Heathrow and Edinburgh airports following a "technical issue" with air traffic control, with other airports also experiencing disruption.

The air traffic control service NATS said in a statement that it had restored the system that caused flight delays and was in the "process of resuming normal operations."

"Departures at all airports have resumed, and we are working with affected airlines and airports to clear the backlog safely. We apologise to everyone affected by this issue," it said in a post on X.

Earlier, NATS explained that aircraft were grounded due to a "technical issue at the NATS Swanwick air traffic control centre," which prompted a restriction on the number of planes allowed to fly in the London control area "in order to ensure safety."

In August 2023, more than 1,500 flights were cancelled and hundreds more were delayed due to the malfunction of NATS' air traffic control system.