LONDON — Almost 1,100 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled yesterday due to what the country’s air traffic control service called a technical issue, in the latest glitch to spark travel chaos.

A total of 1,055 flights to and from British airports had been axed by 8pm (1900 GMT/3am Malaysian time), according to the aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24.

“Recovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped,” Britain’s air traffic control service, known as NATS, said on X early evening.

“Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights,” it noted, adding “this is hugely frustrating and apologise unreservedly”.

Yesterday’s issues follow a technical glitch in July last year that saw scores of flights to and from the UK cancelled and which prompted anger from airline chiefs.

Britain saw its worst air systems failure in years in 2023, with more than 700,000 passengers affected after hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled.

Heathrow Airport, Britain’s largest and busiest airport, in west London, confirmed it was among those affected yesterday, along with Gatwick to the south of the UK capital.

“It’s just an absolute nightmare down there,” healthcare worker Josie Donoghue said of Gatwick after leaving the airport, having had to disembark her flight to Ireland after three hours stuck on the runway.

“Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz,” she told Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency.

Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports were also affected, while Dublin Aiport in Ireland said it had cancelled dozens of flights.

British Airways said it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights, impacting tens of thousands of its customers.