Gabby Logan shares frustration after getting caught up in air traffic failure while sat on flight

‘We could be here for 12 hours,’ TV host complained

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 28 August 2023 15:16 BST
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Planes gather at Heathrow and Gatwick as air traffic control failure hits UK

Gabby Logan has found herself caught up in the huge flight delays caused by the air traffic control failure.

On Bank Holiday Monday (28 August), hundreds of thousands of airline passengers travelling to and from the UK faced potential delays and cancellations due to the system error.

One such passenger is TV personality Logan, who was on her way home from Budapest when her flight, which she had boarded, was grounded.

Writing on X/Twitter, Logan said: “On a plane on the runway at Budapest airport. After almost three weeks away from home, I am hours from hugging my family. And have just been told UK airspace is shut.”

She continued: “We could be here for 12 hours. So we sit on the plane and wait.

Logan has been in Hungary covering the World Athletics Championships. She followed up her initial tweet by quipping: “Now regretting my decision to miss breakfast.”

NATS, the national air traffic controllers, said in a statement about the failure: “We are currently experiencing a technical issue and have applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety.

“Engineers are working to find and the fix the fault. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

The Independent understands that the main control system belonging to Nats, the national air-traffic service, has failed. The organisation is based at Swanwick in Hampshire.

Aircrafts on the ground are being held while planes already in the air are likely to be diverted to airports on the continent.

Gabby Logan stuck on flight home to UK due to air traffic control failure

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