Technical issue at air traffic control causes major London airspace disruption

CGTN Europe spoke to an aviation advisor Anita Mendiratta.

Transcript

00:00Well, let's talk now to Anita Mendaratta, who's an independent aviation advisor.

00:04Good to see you again, Anita. So this is something that's still unfolding, isn't it?

00:07What seems to have happened here?

00:10It is indeed. Air traffic control is, as we know, the heart of an ecosystem of global aviation,

00:16connecting airlines, airports, cargo, travelers.

00:20And so when there was a data error, as we found today,

00:23it has a remarkable staggering effect through all of those links in the chain.

00:28We know that the issue has been resolved.

00:30We know that NATS, which is our air traffic control in the UK, has allowed departures to start taking place.

00:36But if we put this in context, on average, there are 1,400 aircraft movements a day at Heathrow alone.

00:43Roughly just over half of that in number going through Gatwick as well.

00:48And then we consider the other airports.

00:50Departures alone are over 700 when we look at, again, at Heathrow Airport.

00:55So when an issue happens with air traffic control, first priority is being able to address the incoming flights,

01:02those that are in the air, domestically, in Europe and international.

01:06Outbound, as a result, the departures were held back.

01:09So this domino effect ultimately puts a huge amount of pressure on the entire travel system,

01:16which therefore, especially when it's inbound being diverted,

01:19forces travelers and cargo to be dropped off at other airports.

01:23Now we have to get people to where they need to get to.

01:26So it's going to be very messy for the next 12 hours, 24 hours.

01:31But it is remarkable that the airlines have indeed started to depart once more.

01:35And there is confidence that this was simply a technical error

01:39and nothing else from an external perspective causing a threat.

01:43And this isn't the first time, is it, that the UK's air traffic control system has gone down?

01:48Does this raise questions about how reliable it is?

01:51It does indeed.

01:53We've had quite a few years back in 2023 where over 700,000 passengers were disrupted

02:00and the total cost of the air traffic control challenge is about 70 to 100 million pounds.

02:05What this does do is put extra pressure actually on expansion plans.

02:10So if we look at the expansion plans for Heathrow, for Gatwick, for other airports,

02:14it makes sure that in addition to expanding the capacity, we need to expand our risk mitigating

02:21to be able to ensure that air traffic control, with all of the capacity growth,

02:25is able to manage any challenges that might occur to the actual aircraft movements

02:30because of that air traffic control network.

02:33So this is a very good early warning system to ensure that all of the investment

02:37going into airport expansion includes investment into air traffic control

02:42so that if ever there are challenges in other airspace or in the UK,

02:47we can manage it as safely, as swiftly and as effectively as possible.

02:52Anita, thanks so much for coming back on the programme.

02:55That's Anita Menderata, the Independent Aviation Analyst.

02:58Thank you very much.