A computer glitch at the Gatwick control tower left flights unable to land or take off at Britain’s second biggest airport during the morning peak.
Three planes were diverted to other London airports as controllers from Air Navigation Services were forced to shut down the malfunctioning IT and guide planes in under a backup system.
Passengers on British Airways flights returning from Antigua in the Caribbean and Tampa in the US found themselves landing 45 miles away at Heathrow at the end of their overnight flights.
After a delay of more than two hours, the planes refuelled and continued on to the Sussex airport.
An easyJet flight from Belfast was diverted to Luton airport, on the other side of London.
The three flights were diverted during the “switch down” of the IT system, which started at 7.25am. Other planes were left circling and delayed until the normal systems were restored at 9.10am.
A Gatwick spokesperson said: “Earlier IT issues in the air traffic control tower this morning have been resolved and flights are arriving and departing the airport as normal. Some flights may still experience delays however and passengers are advised to check their flight status with the airline.”
A spokesperson for easyJet, the biggest airline operator at Gatwick, said it was “experiencing some disruption to our flying programme as a result” of the IT failure.
“While this is out of our control we apologise for the inconvenience caused by the diversion and delays and would like to thank passengers for their patience and cooperation,” they added.
The disruption was limited. Only about 300 flights in total were expected to land or take off from Gatwick on Thursday, as services return towards normal levels from the depths of the pandemic. In 2019, Gatwick was the busiest single-runway airport in the world.
