The Red Cross enables a rest area at the Tenerife South airport for travelers affected this Monday by the technical failure of the United Kingdom’s air traffic system. The NGO has installed 50 beds and hygiene kits in the Tenerife terminal for those affected by this incident, with special attention to the elderly and children.
Thousands of passengers were unable to travel to and from the UK yesterday due to a technical problem that disrupted the country’s flight planning systems, but could later be resolved, according to air traffic provider NATS.
London Heathrow Airport has recommended that people who have flights today contact their airlines to find out the status of their trips before going to the terminal. For its part, Gatwick airport indicated that it expects to operate a normal service, although it also asked passengers to contact their airlines. London Luton Airport has reported that flights in the UK are still subject to delays or cancellations.
UK Transport Minister Mark Harper has apologized to travelers for the disruption to their journeys. “The system was fixed yesterday afternoon and things are getting back to normal, but obviously there are some outages that will continue today and I know thousands of people have been affected,” Harper added in a statement to local media.
“I hope that the airlines will assume their responsibilities to ensure that people return home, provide them with an alternative flight and take care of food, drink and accommodation,” the minister said.
In addition, the representative rules out that yesterday’s problem was related to a cybersecurity incident, but points out that a report will be made on what happened.
NATS explained yesterday that the flight planning problem “affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans, which meant that they had to be processed manually” and air restrictions were required. The incident caused chaos at airports on a holiday in the UK and the return of many travelers from their summer holidays.
