London Heathrow temporarily halted departures on Tuesday after a technical fault at UK air traffic control provider NATS disrupted flight processing across several major airports. The issue affected Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, forcing airlines and airports to manage delays and restrictions while engineers worked to restore normal operations.
NATS traced the problem to its flight processing system and moved to urgent recovery measures. Heathrow worked with the provider during the disruption and advised passengers to check with their airlines before travelling. Arrivals were not reported to be affected in the main Heathrow coverage, while flights already in the air continued under normal control.
The scale of the disruption varied slightly between reports, with some describing a temporary full pause on Heathrow departures and others referring to heavy restrictions rather than a complete shutdown. Heathrow, Britain’s largest hub, is particularly exposed to any interruption in UK air traffic control, and the same fault quickly created knock-on delays across the wider domestic network.