The Government ‘wants answers’ after the chaos which saw around 2,000 flights cancelled in the UK yesterday and today.
Air traffic control boss Martin Rolfe has been told by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander (pictured) that he has a week to deliver a full investigation after a technical failure on Tuesday at a facility run by NATS, the British air traffic control system.
It grounded around 2,000 flights from major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester – 30% of all UK flights. The airline most affected was easyJet followed by British Airways, Ryanair, KLM and Eurowings.
Ryanair chief operations officer Neal McMahon and Wizz Air UK MD Yvonne Moynihan called for the removal of Rolfe, with McMahon demanding that the Government intervene to fix what he called the UK’s “chronic” air traffic control issues.
Rolfe apologised to those affected by the “IT failure”. A spokesman for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that Alexander had met Rolfe this morning.
“She’s asked him to carry out a full investigation into what happened to make sure that lessons are learned, so that this doesn’t happen again. She set a deadline for them to report back in a week’s time… she’s got confidence in him to deliver that,” he said.
“I think it’s self-evident that she wants answers.”
Meanwhile UK rail passengers affected by flight disruption can travel on a different date, use an alternative train station or apply for a refund.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said tickets for travelling to or from affected airports on Tuesday or Wednesday can now be used on the date of a rebooked flight.