Summary

  • Updates from Friday 12 December 2014

  1. London Luton Airport delayspublished at 15:53 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    London Luton Airport, external has confirmed that all its flights are experiencing delays as a result of the closure of London's airspace.

  2. 'Possible computer failure'published at 15:52 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    BBC News Channel

    Aviation expert Chris Yates says: "If we're talking about a computer failure, if maintenance was being done at the time, for example, then perhaps that's another reason for the air traffic control centre going out of its norm."

  3. Gatwick updates passengerspublished at 15:51 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    tweets, external: Departing flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information.

  4. View from the runwaypublished at 15:48 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Haimish Mead has tweeted , externalthis image from the gate at Heathrow

    Haimish MeadImage source, Haimish Mead
  5. Planes turned awaypublished at 15:46 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Heathrow Airport, external has said some flights are landing but planes further out could be turned away. A spokesman said every flight has a diversion plan so they will follow that plan. There is no indication of how many passengers are affected.

  6. Postpublished at 15:45 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    O AlBarghath tweets, external: Our departure was meant to be 1510. Now showing 1939 at the earliest. This keeps being pushed back. London Heathrow.

  7. Flights circlingpublished at 15:44 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    The current situation as shown by AirLive.net, external.

    Bunching upImage source, AirLive.net
  8. Other airportspublished at 15:41 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Stansted Airport in Essex is assessing the impact of the closure.

    Passengers in Bristol have been affected as well, BBC Points West tweets, external.

  9. Stuck at Heathrowpublished at 15:40 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Alex Lloyd tweets, external: Just about to board 4pm flight to Berlin & ATC has gone down at Heathrow. It's going to be a long evening ...

  10. Live Flight Trackingpublished at 15:39 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    The scene now in London's airspace:

    Flight Tracking MapImage source, Flight Aware

    Live flight tracking is available through Flight Aware, external.

  11. Back-up failurepublished at 15:37 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    BBC News Channel

    Aviation expert Chris Yates says: "Air traffic control centres by their very nature are crucial. Swanwick, like any other air traffic control centre, would have a system of back-ups in place in case of a power outage. Where that fails as well as appears to be the case we are left with a situation such as this."

  12. Stuck at Heathrowpublished at 15:35 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Dave Roberts tweets, external: Landed at Heathrow, only to find we can't park cos' it's full thanks to the air traffic control chaos. I fear we are here for a while ...

  13. Heathrow tweetpublished at 15:32 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Heathrow tweetImage source, Twitter
  14. Airspace is closedpublished at 15:30 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    NATS has confirmed a technical problem has been reported at Swanwick air traffic control centre.

    In a statement it said: "We apologise for any delays and our incident response team has been mobilised.

    "Every possible action is being taken to assist in resolving the situation and to confirm the details."

  15. Postpublished at 15:28 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    BREAKING NEWS

    All London Airspace is closed due to computer failure until 19:00, according to Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation.

  16. Flight delayspublished at 15:27 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    tweets, external: Flights are currently experiencing delays due to a power outage at NATS control centre affecting UK airspace. Further updates to follow.

  17. London makes most from parking feespublished at 15:15 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    The five councils in England which earned the most money from parking fees were all in London, research from the RAC Foundation has found.

    Parking ticket

    Westminster Council made the most money taking £51m during 2013/14 with Kensington and Chelsea coming in second raising £33.5m.

    The figures were reached by adding up income from parking charges and penalty notices, then deducting running costs.

  18. Twickenham accidentpublished at 15:05 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    BBC London
    Travel

    tweets, external: Part of Cross Deep, Twickenham closed southbound - accident {BR}

  19. News on the Hourpublished at 14:56 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    BBC London 94.9
    Radio

    The headlines this hour include:

    • A report into a near miss over west London in July says an object, thought to be a small radio-controlled helicopter, came within just 20 feet of a passenger plane that was coming in to land at Heathrow.

    • A man has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years for the murder of a 16 year old girl in Kent in 1993.

  20. Camera, lights... Acton!published at 14:48 Greenwich Mean Time 12 December 2014

    Acton High Street will gain a new three-screen cinema, restaurant and bar if Ealing Council's cabinet accepts a plan to sell the Acton Library building to independent cinema chain Curzon Cinemas, reports the Ealing Times, external.

    Acton libraryImage source, Google

    The library was moved into the newly-rebuilt Everyone Active Acton Centre earlier this year and the old listed library building was put on the market.