Figures from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed 84 departures and 71 arrivals to and from UK airports were cancelled yesterday with other flights diverted. The most affected airport was Heathrow with 29 departures and 17 arrivals cancelled.

Most flights using UK airspace were subject to delays and cancellation after technical problems with air traffic control. Systems were disabled for only around 30 minutes but because it affected the London area airspace, over which most Europe-bound flights must pass, the majority of flights departing and arriving in the UK were impacted.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive, brand the outage “a disaster for the travel industry and consumers”, coming at one of the busiest weeks of the year.

“Airlines will be working hard today to make sure that they can resume operations as soon as possible,” she said. “It is the summer holidays so airports are likely to be incredibly busy so the impact will be felt by many.”

Nats, which controls the airspace over the UK and north Atlantic, has apologised, but drew the wrath of airlines, with Ryanair again calling for its chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign. 

Airlines will be counting the cost, although air traffic control delays count as “extraordinary circumstance” under EU261 compensation rules, so carriers will not be liable for compensation.

However, some will face large bills for food or accommodation under duty of care obligations if delays are severe.