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Date Published: 29/08/2023

Second day of travel chaos at Alicante airport due to UK fault

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Two flights have been cancelled and 10 are delayed between Britain and Alicante-Elche Airport on Tuesday August 29

Second day of travel chaos at Alicante airport due to UK fault

The travel chaos stemming from a technical glitch with the UK’s air traffic control system has stretched into its second day and Alicante-Elche airport has been hit especially hard, with 10 delayed flights and at least two cancellations of the 116 scheduled operations with Britain on Tuesday August 29.

Although the failure that caused the problem had already been identified and remedied, NATS, the air manager in the United Kingdom, warned that it could still take a few days to recover normality.

Almost 40% of the air traffic that moves through Alicante either originates from or is destined for the British Isles.

Several UK airports have warned of “significant delays” again this Tuesday and Aena has advised anyone travelling from Alicante to England or Scotland to check with their airline well in advance.

On Monday, many passengers reported sitting on the runway for hours, while others turned up at the airport only to find out that their flight had been axed.

NATS explained that the problem which occurred in the flight planning system "affected the system's ability to automatically process flight plans, therefore flight plans are being input manually which means we cannot process them at the same volume, hence we have applied traffic flow restrictions.

"Our priority is always that every flight in the UK remains safe and we sincerely apologize for the disruption this is causing," a spokesperson added.

Across Spain, some 147 flights that were due to depart on Tuesday from the United Kingdom have been cancelled, which is equivalent to 5% of takeoffs, while a further 134 trips from Britain to Spain have been axed, representing 5% of all arrivals.

British Transport Minister Mark Harper today apologised to travellers for the disruption to their flights.

"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," he said.

"I hope that the airlines assume their responsibilities to ensure that people return home, provide them with an alternative flight and take care of food, drink and accommodation," he added.

In other news: Irish tourist, 34, found dead in Ibiza hotel room

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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