Air India Mumbai-London flight diverted to Zurich amid UK ATC chaos

Air India flight AI 131 from Mumbai to London was diverted to Zurich and later cancelled due to a major technical failure in the UK's air traffic control system. The disruption affected over 290 passengers and caused widespread chaos at UK airports.

Air India flight AI 131 from Mumbai to London was diverted and landed in Zurich amid an air traffic control-related disruption at London Heathrow Airport. The flight, carrying over 290 passengers, landed at Zurich Airport after the disruption affected operations at Heathrow.

Initially, passengers remained onboard the aircraft at Zurich and were instructed to wait as the situation at London Heathrow was expected to be resolved. However, the flight was subsequently cancelled, and all passengers deboarded at Zurich Airport.

Widespread Disruption at UK Airports

The development came amid a technical issue in the UK's air traffic control system that disrupted flight operations at major airports, including Heathrow, leading to widespread delays and cancellations. Monitoring service FlightRadar has reported that "more than 1,000 flights have been cancelled" across UK airports. In a post on X earlier on Tuesday evening, the service said, "Inbound flights to London airports + Manchester + Birmingham looking very different tonight compared to last Tuesday. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at UK airports following a technical failure at a NATS ATC facility earlier today."

Official Statements on System Failure

Heathrow Airport says arrivals have been suspended for the remainder of the day "to ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues". In a statement published on X, the airport says departures have resumed but "disruption is expected to continue", so it advises passengers to check with their airline for the latest information for their flight before travelling to the airport. "We apologise to those affected and are supporting our local Nats team and airline partners as they work through the resulting disruption," it adds.

Meanwhile, air traffic control provider Nats said that it is assisting airlines and airports to recover from the disruption. In a post on X, it wrote, "Recovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped . Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights." "Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today's disruption. This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover," it added. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)