“ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE”
Heathrow in west London and Gatwick to the south of the UK capital confirmed they were affected.
“It’s just an absolute nightmare down there,” healthcare worker Josie Donoghue said of Gatwick after leaving the airport, having had to disembark her flight to Ireland after three hours stuck on the runway.
“Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz,” she told Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency.
Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports were also affected, while Dublin Airport in Ireland said it had cancelled dozens of flights.
British Airways said it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights, impacting tens of thousands of its customers.
Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been disrupted and it had cancelled more than 50 flights.
Arsenal, due to play Napoli in the Champions League Wednesday in the southern Italian city, were forced to cancel a news conference ahead of the match after the team’s flight was delayed.
British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on X she was “seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job”.
But Ryanair COO Neal McMahon repeated his calls for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to be fired, accusing him of having again “failed UK travellers”.
“Enough is enough, it’s time for the UK government to intervene … and put somebody in charge who can do the job.”