Newcastle Airport tweets:, external If you're travelling this evening and are looking for information about possible delays please visit our website - http://www.newcastleairport.com/arrivals-departures …, external

Josh Rasbash, a software engineer in the aviation business, has been on a delayed flight from Edinburgh to Brussels. He said: "I've been stuck on the plane for an hour and a half. Most passengers are disgruntled.

"You have to be extremely careful with managing a flight. You can't just let them land wherever. It needs to be carefully organised and managed so we don't hit each other in the air.

"It's Ryanair so I'm not expecting much."

Robert Kowalski tweets, external: @BBCLondonNews, external sitting @LDNLutonAirport, external on #W62066 @wizzair, external policy do not allow to sell drinks or food when grounded. #nonsense

Swanwick controls the 200,000 square miles of airspace above England and Wales, cost £623m to build, and employs about 1,300 controllers.

The facility opened in 2002 and handles 5,000 flights every 24 hours.

Rebecca Cafe
BBC News

Heathrow says 50 flights had been cancelled but it expects that figure will rise as the evening goes on.

The glitch lasted from 15:27 to 16:03.

The fact that Heathrow typically handles between 80 and 90 flights an hour shows how even a short disruption to take-offs and landings can have a big effect.

Here's a picture taken on a mobile phone of passengers who have been stuck on a plane waiting to take off from Luton Airport for the past two hours.

Passenger Felix Leach tweets, external: @BBCLondonNews, external -sitting airside @HeathrowAirport, external term 5. Absolutely no information. All screens showing flights as on time...

Mark Norman
BBC South East Business Correspondent

Gatwick South terminal apparently operating very smoothly

Here is an undated handout picture of the air traffic control centre at Swanwick which is where the computer glitch was.

Image source, PA

Mary from west London writes: "I am on the BA flight from Delhi which must have been one of last to make it in.

"No stands available because no planes leaving. We have taxi'd from Terminal 5 to 1, and have been told we will be taken by bus back to Terminal 5.

"Passengers tired after long flight but good tempered, just relieved that we made it to the ground."

Passenger Adam Sullivan tweets, external: @BBCLondonNews, external nothing moving out of Dublin, plane loaded but sat here waiting for an update. It's not just UK impacted

Theo Leggett
Business correspondent, BBC News

The bulk of the cancellations are short haul flights and budget carriers in particular and the low cost airlines.

They operate very tight turnaround times - a flight say from London to Milan will stop off in Milan, there'll be a 20-25 minute turnaround, they'll take the passengers off the plane, give it a quick clean and put passengers back on.

That flight will then go to another destination where there'll be a quick turnaround again.

Passenger Lee Cripps tweets, external: @BBCLondonNews, external have been sat in Milan airport from 10am due to a strike, now the airspace issue! Can't leave til plane arrives from London.

Beth Rose
BBC News Online

Birmingham Airport has said some of its departing flights will be re-routed to avoid flying through London airspace.

It advises all passengers to check its website, external for more information.

BBC journalist Joe Inwood is one of many passengers whose flights have been held or cancelled.

Image source, Luton Airport Ops Ltd.

He spoke to the BBC from a plane on the tarmac at Luton airport.

Simon Calder
Travel Editor, Independent

You can't expect cash compensation because this is not something which is the airline's responsibility.

You can, however, expect a duty of care. That means once the delay gets above a few hours, the airline has to look after you, provide meals and so on.

If people are stuck in the airport overnight, and I very very much fear that there will be many thousands of people in that position, the airline has to provide hotel accommodation for you and it has to get you to your destination as soon as it possibly can.

Tom Edwards
Transport correspondent, London

The system is working again so that's really good. The big issue now is the queues.

This is one of the biggest airspaces in the world so closing it has a huge impact.

Anthony North tweets, external: @bbclondonnews, external Zero planes visible from top of Canary Wharf. Very unusual.

Image source, Anthony North

BBC News Channel

Pilot and aviation expert Andrew Brooks told the BBC News Channel: "This is a one-off.

"It causes problems, but so does snow. So does ice."

Heathrow Airport tweets, external: Flights now departing and arriving. Please check your flight status before travelling to the airport: heathrowairport.com/help/contact-us/airline-contacts …, external