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Explained in plain English

Who runs air traffic control?

National Air Traffic Services, or NATS, manages all air traffic in the UK. Their role is to keep planes safely separated in the sky and on the ground, guiding them from take off to landing. This incident highlights their critical role in keeping our skies safe and organised, as a failure can quickly ground flights across the country.

Stories that explain this

Flights grounded at Heathrow and Gatwick after control failure

Related explainers

Why are Heathrow and Gatwick so key? What are knock-on delays? How do technical failures happen? What is air traffic control? Who regulates air traffic control? Why did air traffic controllers settle? How do air traffic controllers talk? What is 'AI escaping control'?

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