Airlines Criticize UK Air Traffic Control System After Second Technical Problem

Airlines are criticizing the UK's air traffic control system after a second technical problem in two weeks caused major disruption to UK flights.

EasyJet said Monday's incident 'once again calls into question the resilience' of the system, while Wizz Air said there was a 'national confidence crisis' in National Air Traffic Services (Nats).

The technical problem at Prestwick in Ayrshire caused disruption at airports across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, delaying dozens of flights.

Nats said a 'connectivity issue' was to blame for the disruption, and that it had 'nothing to do' with a separate software defect at Swanwick that led to the cancellation of 2,000 flights earlier in September.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said passengers who had flights disrupted were 'unlikely' to be entitled to compensation.

Industry representative body Airlines UK said both passengers and airlines 'deserve better' service after 'yet another Nats failure).

Airlines are now focusing on working with their customers to recover residual delays and help get their operations back to normal.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged the problems with flights were 'deeply frustrating' for passengers.

Steve Davies, 74, told the BBC he was 'cheesed off' with air traffic control as technical issues seemed to be 'happening a lot'.

Nicole McCloskey, from Kilmarnock, had been due to go to Disneyland Paris with her family before their flight was cancelled.

She told the BBC her family got a message saying the flight was delayed while they were travelling to Glasgow airport, but only found out it had been grounded altogether once they arrived.