London Airspace Temporarily Closed Due to Radar Failure

A critical technical malfunction at the Swanwick center of NATS (National Air Traffic Services), the UK’s national air traffic control provider, led to the temporary closure of the London Control Zone airspace. During the disruption, many flights departing from or arriving in southern England were either diverted or delayed.

The issue reportedly stemmed from a failure in the radar and flight planning systems, which triggered a shift to “safe mode.” This mode suspended automated flight plan processing and introduced capacity restrictions for outbound flights.

The malfunction was resolved in the past few minutes, and operations are now gradually returning to normal.