Computer failure causes UK-wide flight delays

Thousands of passengers at Belfast airports faced long delays today after a computer failure at the UK's main air traffic control centre in Hampshire.

The delays, which have affected every airport in the UK, began after a computer failure at Swanwick air traffic control centre created a severe backlog of flights which took much of the day to correct.

At one stage passengers at Belfast City Airport faced a four-hour wait but this was said to be reducing as flights began to be processed on the mainland.

A spokesman for the airport said that the backlog would be processed as quickly as possible but still advised passengers to approach the airlines to get the latest information on flights.

Belfast International Airport experienced some delays only with domestic flights and passengers were held up for a maximum of three and a half hours this morning. By late evening the flights from the south of England were arriving around 30 minutes behind schedule.

Swanwick controllers could use only half their terminals when the system was brought online at about 6.30am. The glitch was rectified five hours later but by that time the damage was done. In most cases the delays did not exceed six hours and as a safety precaution many airports were operating at 50% capacity.

As departure lounges filled across the country many passengers expressed their frustration at the turn of events. One irate passenger said: "It is unbelievable that the whole of the air network can fall apart like this. I face a four-hour delay to get to Belfast but I have not been told anything else at the moment."

The Swanwick centre controls the air traffic in England and Wales, and airports in the south-west were particularly affected. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton registered the longest waiting times as passengers were advised to contact airlines before making their journey. Luton reported 14 cancellations and delays of up to six hours.

However, by late evening Heathrow had one flight landing every seven minutes which is close to full capacity.

The Swanwick centre opened in January this year, six years overdue and at a cost of £623 million. There have also been problems associated with the West Drayton control centre and it has failed twice since March.

Transatlantic flights originating in Scotland have been unaffected and northern airports are said to have experienced only "minor" problems.

(GMcG)