London airspace is open but traffic is being restricted, the UK-based global air traffic management company NATS said Friday.
“Airspace is open. We’re restricting traffic volumes in accordance with capability we currently have in our system,” it said via Twitter.
The update came a short time after the European air traffic control network, Eurocontrol, said all London airspace was closed because of a computer failure. It said no flights would be accepted in or out of London until 7 p.m. (2 p.m. ET.)
A spokeswoman for NATS told CNN that a “technical problem” was causing the disruption.
“We are trying to understand the scope of the problem. It would be premature to characterize it as a computer problem,” she said. “From our perspective it is too early to speculate when this will be resolved.”
The issue is affecting the air traffic control center in Swanwick, which controls all air traffic routes in southern England and Wales, up to approximately Manchester. A second air traffic control center at Prestwick in Scotland takes over air routes from there. It has not been affected, NATS said.
A spokeswoman for London’s Heathrow Airport, Marianna Panizza, told CNN: “Flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information.”
Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in the world.
The issue will also impact Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City airports, which all serve the capital, as well as airports elsewhere in southern England and Wales.
Thousands of travelers heading into or out of the British capital for the weekend are likely to be delayed, as well as those on flights connecting through London airports.
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