Operations at UK airports return to normal

[LONDON] UK airports resumed regular service yesterday after a technical fault in the system that manages the country's air traffic disrupted flights and delayed thousands of passengers on Saturday.

Operations have returned to normal at London Heathrow, a spokesman for Europe's busiest hub said yesterday. Eight arrivals and four departures were cancelled yesterday morning as some planes remained at other airports after more than 200 flights were scratched on Saturday, said the spokesman, who declined to be identified, citing company policy.

National Air Traffic Services Holdings, which provides UK air traffic management services, handled about 20 per cent fewer flights on Saturday after a problem with its ground communications system, the company said in a statement. Eurocontrol, the region's central airspace management organisation, said about 1,300 flights, or 8 per cent of total traffic, were "severely delayed".