It has now been reported that many transatlantic flights that were leaving from the UK have been grounded recently due to a break down in the air traffic control system. This is just yet another blow to the airline industry at a time when every little mistakes could be very costly due to the recession.

Reports go on to show that the glitch happened at the Prestwick airport’s air traffic control hub around 8am. This problem caused many delays at airports all across the UK. A spokesman for NATS, which is the company that is responsible for the management of UK air traffic, said that they had to put restrictions on many aircrafts that are entering the airspace over the North Atlantic.

She went on to say that all of the airborne aircrafts arriving in the UK have safely landed using the manual systems. These reports do show that Heathrow airport was, by far, the worst affected by the delays. Some United States flights were said to have been delayed for more than two hours. Gatwick airport was not as badly affected as Heathrow.

A spokeswoman, Liian Cassin, for the Irish Aviation Authority said that there were no problems at the Shannon Airport. This was the same report that came in from the Dublin airport as well. Reports from airports have clearly said that engineers are working to resolve the issue that is affecting the oceanic airspace.

Passengers that will be traveling from west bound destinations, like cities in Canada and the United States, may experience some delays when traveling to the UK for the time being. An estimate could not be given as to how long these delays could be.