The UK air traffic control fault will have a “major” knock-on impact on flights to and from Ireland, Irish minister of state for international transport Jack Chambers has warned.
The UK’s leading provider of air traffic control services said it has applied traffic flow restrictions on Monday to maintain safety following a technical issue.
DAA, which operates Dublin Airport and Cork Airport in Ireland, said the issues were resulting in delays to some flights in and out of the major hubs.
It said it would advise all passengers due to travel on Monday to “check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of travelling”.
“Passengers due to travel today are advised to check the status of their flight with their respective airline in advance of travelling.”
Ryanair and Aer Lingus have cancelled a number of flights out of and returning to the airports on Monday.
Speaking to RTE Radio One, Mr Chambers said: “There’s traffic flow restrictions have been introduced to maintain safety in the sky and it will have significant impacts on passengers flying in and out of Dublin, and there are multiple slot restrictions.
“So, we’d encourage customers to contact their airline for an update but it will have a major impact on Irish travel because, obviously, the nature and the proximity to UK space.
“There will be an impact and delays of several hours for many passengers and we’d encourage them to contact their airlines.”
The Aer Lingus airline said: “Due to a failure of the UK air traffic control flight planning systems, which is outside of Aer Lingus’ control, there are severe restrictions on all flights into the UK and flying over UK airspace today.
“We would ask you to check the status of your flight before coming to the airport today as delays and cancellations are likely.”
Ryanair said: “Due to another UK ATC failure, Ryanair will be forced to delay/cancel a number of flights to/from the UK today, Mon Aug 28.
“All affected passengers will be notified of their options to change flights (free of charge) to another Ryanair flight or receive a full refund.”
Shannon Airport said the forced restriction of aircraft flow has resulted in the cancellation of the outbound (FR1182) and inbound (FR1183) Ryanair Gatwick service, and the inbound (EI385) and outbound (EI386) Aer Lingus London Heathrow service.
A spokesman for Shannon Airport has advised all passengers due to travel from Shannon on Monday afternoon to check the status of their flight with their airline in advance of travelling.
Ireland West Airport, also known as Knock Airport, said “there is no certainty as to when flights will be back on schedule”.
In a statement, it said: “As a result of air traffic control issues in the UK, passengers are advised to expect delays and disruption to some flights.”
