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The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) centre reported a "technical issue" leading to flights being temporarily suspended at Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
While NATS stated the issue had been resolved within 20 minutes, frustrated passengers across the country and beyond faced hours of chaos.
One passenger, John Carr, 35, was on his way to Norway for his brother's wedding when their flight was cancelled. "We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful," he told a news agency. His friend, James Hedges, said: “We were in the departures lounge, and we were literally sitting down having a burger when it came up on the screen.
"Our flight was still showing as if it was leaving, and they were waiting to give us a gate and said that would be given at 16:45pm. When that time came around, it then switched to cancelled."
Fraser Lyall, General Insurance Policy Adviser at the ABI, shared advice for passengers in future: “Today's disruption will understandably leave people concerned about their travel plans. If your flight is cancelled, refunds should be sought from the airline or tour operator in the first instance. Any bookings made through a credit card may also have recoverable costs. If your travel insurance policy includes trip disruption, you should be covered if you have to cancel your travel plans. Check your policy details and speak to your insurer if you’re not sure what is included.”
For passengers concerned about future disruptions, it’s important to remember that some travel insurance policies cover disruption to travel. This is either included automatically or as an optional extra. It’s a good idea to check your policy details and speak to your insurer if you’re unsure of what is included.
Disruption cover is usually in place only if you have been unable to get compensation from any other sources first, such as the airline or tour operator. Typically, policies will have a minimum delay period, so check your policy wording carefully.