'Technical issues' cause delays at British airports

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Hundreds of flights at airports throughout Britain were delayed Monday as the National Air Traffic Services said it was experiencing "technical issues."

Officials at Ryanair, EasyJet, Loganair and Aer Lingus all warned passengers there could be delays to flights as the delays went from the morning to the afternoon.

"We are continuing to work hard to resolve the technical issue," National Air Traffic Services said in a message on its website Monday afternoon. "To clarify, U.K. airspace is not closed, we have had to apply air traffic flow restrictions which ensures we can maintain safety."

NATS did not elaborate on what caused the "technical issues" or how long it would take to fix it, leaving thousands of passengers in a holding pattern at their airports clinging to their smartphones for any kind of positive update.

"Due to another U.K. ATC failure, Ryanair will be forced to delay/cancel a number of flights to/from the U.K. today," Ryanair said in a statement. "All affected passengers will be notified of their options to change flights (free of charge) to another Ryanair flight or receive a full refund.

"We sincerely apologize for this UK ATC failure which is beyond Ryanair's control and is affecting all airlines operating to/from the UK."

Loganair said it still hoped to operate most of its intra-Scotland flights Monday morning, it urge passengers to go to its website for updates as the delays continued.

"We truly understand the inconvenience this will cause, yet are grateful for customers' patience," Loganair said.