Edinburgh Airport, Scotland's busiest airport, was forced to suspend all departing and arriving flights on Friday morning following a major IT failure within its air traffic control systems.
Major Disruption for Thousands of Travellers
The airport announced the unprecedented halt to operations via a statement on social media in the early hours. The issue was attributed to an IT problem with its air traffic control provider, Air Navigation Solutions. Airport authorities confirmed that teams were working urgently to identify and fix the fault, but could not immediately provide a timeline for services resuming.
Passengers were left in limbo, with the airport advising all travellers to contact their individual airlines for the latest information on flight statuses, cancellations, and rebooking options. The disruption impacted carriers across the board, including major operators like easyJet and Ryanair.
Scale of the Impact on Scotland's Premier Airport
The scale of the disruption is significant given Edinburgh Airport's status as a key transport hub. The facility handles approximately 15 million passengers annually, which averages out to around 43,000 travellers per day. It offers connections to 155 global destinations, making it a critical gateway for Scottish tourism and business.
This incident highlights a growing and worrying trend for the aviation industry, where air traffic control issues, particularly IT failures, have become one of the most recurrent and disruptive problems faced by airlines and airports. Such systemic failures can cause cascading delays across national and European networks.
Ongoing Efforts and Passenger Advice
As engineers worked behind the scenes to restore the vital air traffic management systems, the airport's main priority was communicating with stranded passengers. The advice remained clear: do not travel to the airport without confirmed flight information from your airline.
The Friday morning suspension serves as a stark reminder of the reliance modern aviation has on complex digital infrastructure. For now, passengers booked to fly from Edinburgh face uncertainty as they wait for further updates on when normal service will resume.
