Nearly 2,000 flights were cancelled at airports in the United Kingdom due to a large‑scale technical failure in air traffic control. This was reported by TASS, citing the newspaper The Times.

National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which is responsible for air traffic control in the UK, said that the problem with the flight‑processing system was discovered at about 13:00 local time on September 8 and was “fully resolved” by 19:00.

NATS chief Martin Rolf ruled out the possibility of a cyber‑attack. He said a thorough investigation would be carried out.

According to a statement from the management of Europe’s largest low‑cost carrier, Ryanair, delays or cancellations of more than 200 flights affected up to 150,000 passengers. British Airways was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 aircraft. According to EasyJet, some of its flights “cannot be carried out” because of air‑traffic‑control problems. This caused aircraft delays across Europe.

Experts say that operations at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City and other airports remain destabilised.