Edinburgh Airport resumes operations following air traffic disruption that caused flight delays

On December 5, Edinburgh Airport reopened its runways after a brief suspension caused by an IT malfunction in air traffic control systems, which forced flights to be grounded for about an hour on Friday morning.

The technical issue, described by the airport as isolated and unrelated to the wider Cloudflare outage that disrupted websites and apps, led to cancellations, diversions, and delays for both domestic and international flights. Affected destinations included London, Birmingham, Belfast, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. Airlines impacted included British Airways, EasyJet, and Ryanair.

Transatlantic flights operated by United Airlines and Delta Air Lines were also disrupted, with Delta's New York service redirected to Dublin. Some travelers reported remaining on the tarmac for up to two hours due to the unexpected halt.

Even after flights resumed at approximately 10:40 a.m. local time, operational backlogs caused further delays as aircraft and crews were temporarily out of position. Edinburgh Airport issued an online statement expressing gratitude to passengers for their patience and explaining that the outage originated from its air traffic control service provider.

The BBC noted that the affected company, Air Navigation Solutions based at London Gatwick Airport, is smaller than National Air Traffic Services, which manages the majority of U.K. airspace. As a result, the problem remained localized without broader disruptions. A spokesperson for ANS stated, "Safety is our top priority, and our engineers worked rapidly to restore system functionality."

NATS confirmed it would provide additional support to affected airlines to help manage the disruption.

Edinburgh Airport, serving roughly 43,000 passengers daily and offering flights to 155 destinations, had previously experienced travel interruptions during the Crowdstrike outage in July 2024, which impacted airports globally.

Author: Maya Henderson