NATS Rules Out Cyber Attack After Software Issue Disrupts U.K. Flights

According to CNBC, the head of U.K. air traffic control services said he does not believe a cyber attack caused the software issue that disrupted hundreds of thousands of passengers and led to flight cancellations on Tuesday. Martin Rolfe said National Air Traffic Services had ruled out cyber as a cause and was carrying out a full investigation. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said 1,300 flights were canceled to and from U.K. airports on Tuesday, with 177 more canceled as of early Wednesday. Nearly all of the cancellations were at London Heathrow, while Stansted, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester were also affected. The technical issue was confirmed by NATS shortly before 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday and was resolved by 7:30 p.m., but disruption continued into Wednesday because of flight backlogs, aircraft and crews being in the wrong place, and staff reaching end-of-shift limits. Rolfe said NATS took responsibility for the impact on passengers, airlines and airports. Airlines criticized the organization, with Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon calling it an "abhorrent" failure. A Wizz Air spokesperson said the carrier was extremely disappointed that another NATS technical failure had caused widespread disruption across the U.K. aviation network.