Belfast International Airport experiencing 'some delays to flights' after a Nats air traffic control issue

In a statement on its website, the airport said: “We are currently experiencing some delays to flights due to a Nats air traffic control issue.

“Passengers who are due to travel should check with their airline for latest information on their flight status.

“If you do not have a confirmed flight, please do not travel to the airport.”

EasyJet has said the latest flight disruption “calls into question the resilience of Nats’ systems” after two air traffic control problems within one month.

The airline said in a statement: “A Nats air traffic control system failure in its Prestwick centre is causing delays to flights with some unable to operate.

“This, once again, calls into question the resilience of Nats’ systems and demonstrates the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures.

“We will do all we can minimise the impact of this for our customers and advise anyone due to fly today to check our flight tracker for the latest information.”

And in a message on its website, Highlands and Islands Airports Limited said flights were disrupted across all the airports the company operates.

These include Dundee, Inverness and Islay.

The statement said: “Due to a technical issue at Prestwick, flight schedules are currently being impacted across all our airports. Please contact your airline for the latest flight information.”

A Nats spokesman said: “Our engineers are continuing to investigate the issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland.

“Airports south of Manchester are broadly unaffected, however flights heading north and flights departing Scottish airports are currently subject to some delay.

“Passengers should check with their airlines. This is unrelated to the issue two weeks ago. We apologise for the disruption.”