Martin Rolfe, chief executive of Nats, the UK’s air traffic controller, has apologised for the collapse and said that part of the system collapsed because it “didn’t recognise a message”.
Interviewed this morning on the BBC’s Today programme that it was “absolutely not correct” that the whole of the UK’s air traffic system went down. The UK lost a “part of the system”.
However former BA chief told the same programme that he finds it “staggering” that a single corrupted flight plan could have caused the collapse of the whole air traffic control system.
Willie Walsh said:
If it is true it demonstrates a considerable weakness that must have been there for some time. I’m amazed if that is the cause of this.
He added that
The costs of the disruption at an industry level are in the tens of millions, possibly up to £100 million, as a result of this failure.
“Airlines will not be able to get that back so Nats should pay, and if Nats is fined, they shouldn’t pass that cost onto airlines.
“The people responsible for the cancellations should bear the costs because at the heart of this is a failure that shouldn’t have happened.
In a statement issued about an hour again
Manchester Airport said it is operating a near normal flight schedule today, following Monday’s nationwide technical issue that affected air traffic control.
“We continue to advise passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.
As our airlines look to accommodate passengers whose travel plans have been disrupted over the last few days, our terminals may be busier than usual at times.
We are working hard with our airlines and their handling agents to get you through the airport as smoothly as possible. We thank you for your understanding.”
