Swanwick technical failure UPDATE 12:20

Swanwick controller workstations provide a number of tools and services to the controller to enable them to safely control a high volume of air traffic.  In normal operations the number of workstations in use versus in standby fluctuates with the demands of the traffic being controlled.

In this instance a transition between the two states caused a failure in the system which has not been seen before. The failure meant that the controllers were unable to access all of the data regarding individual flight plans which significantly increases their workload.

Our priority is to maintain a safe operation for the flying public; consequently when the failure occurred we immediately took steps to reduce the traffic into and out of the UK network.  The controllers had a full radar picture and full communications with all aircraft at all times during the incident and at no time was safety compromised in any way.

We apologise again for the inconvenience caused.