Two Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights from Singapore to London were diverted on Tuesday, 8 September, after a technical failure disrupted air traffic control services across Britain.
The affected flights were SQ308 and SQ318, which were redirected to Paris and Munich respectively instead of landing at London Heathrow.
The knock-on disruption also resulted in SIA cancelling two return services from London to Singapore, SQ319 and SQ321.
SQ308 Passengers Continued to London by Land
SQ308, operated by an Airbus A380-800, was carrying 401 passengers and 29 crew members.
The aircraft was diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, where it landed at about 6.28pm local time on 8 September.
SIA subsequently arranged for the passengers to travel from Paris to London by land.
The second affected service, SQ318, was operated by a Boeing 777-300ER and had 203 passengers and 19 crew members on board.
It was diverted to Munich Airport and landed there at about 8.09pm local time.
SIA said it intended to fly the aircraft from Munich to London Heathrow after receiving the required clearances.
Because the two Singapore-originating aircraft did not reach Heathrow as scheduled, return flights SQ319 and SQ321 from London to Singapore on 8 September were cancelled.
SIA Provided Hotels and Transport to Affected Passengers
SIA said affected passengers were given assistance including hotel accommodation and ground transport.
The airline also rebooked connecting flights where required.
Passengers with upcoming journeys have been advised to check SIA’s flight-status information for the latest details.
Technical Problem Hit Britain’s Air Traffic Control System
The disruption began after Britain’s National Air Traffic Services, or NATS, encountered a technical problem involving its flight data processing system on 8 September.
The problem affected operations at several major airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted.
NATS later said the technical issue had been resolved, although recovering the aviation network took longer as airlines had to deal with disrupted schedules, aircraft and crews that were no longer where they were supposed to be.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported that around 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on 8 September, with further cancellations the following day.
Heathrow said on 9 September that flights were operating again, but warned that some knock-on disruption could continue while airlines repositioned aircraft and crew. Passengers were advised to confirm their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport.
