• September 8, 2026

Air India flight diverted to Zurich as UK air traffic control glitch disrupts 600 flights

Air India flight diverted to Zurich as UK air traffic control glitch disrupts 600 flights

LONDON Sept 8: An Air India flight from Mumbai to London was diverted to Zurich after a technical problem at Britain’s air traffic control provider disrupted flights at several major UK airports on Tuesday.

Air India flight AI 131, carrying more than 290 passengers, landed in Zurich as the disruption affected departing flights across the UK. Passengers were asked to remain onboard while the situation at London Heathrow Airport was expected to be resolved.

Heathrow Airport said the disruption was caused by a technical issue at NATS, the UK’s air traffic control provider. While departing flights were affected, arriving flights were initially not impacted.

The problem spread during the day, with Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted airports all reporting disruption linked to the NATS technical issue.

Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 reported that more than 600 flights had been cancelled on Tuesday as a result of the technical failure. Heathrow separately said around 425 flights to and from UK airports, including Heathrow, had been cancelled, affecting airlines such as British Airways, easyJet, KLM and Lufthansa.

Heathrow said it was working with the local NATS team to resolve the issue and advised passengers to check directly with their airlines for the latest information.

NATS is responsible for managing air traffic across UK airspace and at several major airports.

Budget airline easyJet said some of its flights were “unable to operate” because of the system failure, which it said had also caused delays to flights across Europe.