The airport announced there were IT issues with air traffic control meaning no flights would be taking off or landing indefinitely
Edinburgh Airport was in chaos today as IT glitches wreaked havoc with air traffic control, leaving passengers stranded and flights either cancelled or facing ‘indefinite delays’.
The disruption began unfolding around 4pm on Sunday, December 15, with the airport taking to X, previously known as Twitter, to inform: “Due to to an IT issue with Air Traffic Control no flights are currently taking off or landing.”
They added, “Engineers are working to resolve the issue. Passengers should check their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport.”
Inside the terminal, images show crowds of travellers waiting for updates on their journeys.
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Andrea, who was set to fly from Edinburgh to Bratislava at 3:30pm, found out after 5pm that her flight was axed. She expressed her frustration to Edinburgh Live, especially since she’s heading back to Slovakia for a crucial medical appointment.
“I have some family in Glasgow so I should be fine, it’s really frustrating though,” Andrea remarked.
She recounted how passengers were initially asked to queue for boarding, only to be met with announcements of successive flight delays due to ‘air control traffic issues’: “We were asked to queue up for boarding as usual, but a few minutes later, we could hear the airport announcements about flights, one by one, being delayed due to ‘air control traffic issues’.”
Passengers have been left frustrated after flights across Europe were grounded due to a major air traffic control system failure.
One passenger, Andrea, said people were getting agitated as they faced missing connecting flights, while another, Doug Forbes, was left sitting on a plane on the tarmac at Malaga Airport, bound for Edinburgh.
Doug said: “We were told it could be three hours before we depart. But that could end up being any amount of time if it’s an IT failure.”
Andrea added: “Some people are very frustrated, mainly because they are going to miss some connecting flights. It’s particularly frustrating for me, because I’m due to attend an important medical appointment tomorrow morning, which is the only reason why I was travelling back to Slovakia, my homeland, so early this Christmas.”
In the latest update shared by Edinburgh Airport, the issues have now been resolved.
At 6.54pm a spokesperson shared: “The IT issue affecting Air Traffic Control has now been resolved and flights have now resumed.
“Passengers should continue to check their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport. We would like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
