Belfast passengers warned flight disruption "highly likely" as UK airspace hit by technical fault

UK airspace has been hit by a technical fault, the country's leading provider of air traffic control services said.

National Air Traffic Services said it is experiencing a "technical issue" and has applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety.

It said in a statement, "We are currently experiencing a technical issue and have applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety.

"Engineers are working to find and fix the fault. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause."

A spokesperson for Belfast City Airport said “Due to an ongoing UK-wide flight planning system technical issue, disruption to flights is highly likely.

“Whilst this issue is out of our control we are advising all passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.”

A spokesperson for Belfast International Airport said, ""National Air Traffic Control (NATS) are experiencing a technical issue across UK airspace. As a result traffic flow restrictions have been implemented resulting in flight delays UK wide."

"If you are due to travel today please check with your airline for latest information on your flight status.”

Later on Monday afternoon, in a statement, the NATS said: "We have identified and remedied the technical issue affecting our flight planning system this morning.

"We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible. Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system's performance as we return to normal operations.

"The flight planning issue affected the system's ability to automatically process flight plans, meaning that flight plans had to be processed manually which cannot be done at the same volume, hence the requirement for traffic flow restrictions.

"Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing. Please contact your airline for information on how this may affect your flight."

On Monday evening, the Irish minister of state for international transport said the fault will have a "major" knock-on impact on flights to and from Ireland.

The UK's leading provider of air traffic control services said it has applied traffic flow restrictions on Monday to maintain safety following a technical issue.

DAA, which operates Dublin Airport and Cork Airport in Ireland, said the issues were resulting in delays to some flights in and out of the major hubs.

It said it would advise all passengers due to travel on Monday to "check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of travelling".

"Passengers due to travel today are advised to check the status of their flight with their respective airline in advance of travelling."

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