Passengers at UK airports to face disruption as flights grounded across US
Passengers flying to and from UK airports are likely to face disruption after flights were grounded across the United States.
The US’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted all flights nationwide “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety”.
British Airways has cancelled a flight to New York which had been due to take off from London Heathrow at 10.30pm on Friday.
A spokesman for Manchester Airport confirmed three US-bound flights scheduled to leave on Saturday morning – all operated by Virgin Atlantic – are likely to be affected if the issue is not resolved soon.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the ground stop order issued by the Federal Aviation Administration for all US airports.
“We’re closely monitoring the situation and assessing any impact to our flights. We advise any customers due to travel to check their flight status at virginatlantic.com.”
A British Airways spokesperson said: “Our flights departing the United States may be delayed due to the ongoing air traffic control issue.
“Customers are advised to travel to the airport as planned so we can try to depart our aircraft as quickly as possible.
“This is entirely outside of our control and our teams are working hard to minimise any disruption to our customers.”
A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said its flights arriving into the US are able to land, and some of its flights departing from the US are being cleared to depart.
The spokesperson added: “We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and will communicate directly with customers who are impacted by the disruption.
“Customers should continue to check aerlingus.com for the latest updates.”
Responding to customers on X, British Airways apologised for possible delays to its flights, and recommended passengers travel to the airport as planned to arrive for the original departure time.
It told one X user that it expects to operate flights due to take off tomorrow, but added it is monitoring the situation and “can’t guarantee that this won’t change”.
It is understood the situation is expected to have minimal impact on London Gatwick Airport.
Ireland’s Department of Transport advised all US-bound passengers to check with their airline for updates.
It said in a statement: “The Department of Transport has been advised that the US Federal Aviation Administration has on the evening of 13 Nov 2026 issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports.
“We understand that some flights currently en route to the US are being permitted to land. The US authorities are handling international flights on a case by case basis.
“This is an evolving situation and the Department advises all passengers who are due to travel to the US on Saturday 14 November to check with their airline for information regarding the status of their flight.”
US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA is investigating a communications issue affecting regional air traffic control centres, according to the Associated Press.
Eurocontrol said all US-bound air traffic from its member states has been suspended amid the disruption in the US.
A statement on the organisation’s website said: “To the attention of all Aircraft Operators: On request of FAA due to technical issues all traffic departing within IFPZ (Eurocontrol member states) between 2200 UTC on 13 NOV and 0500 UTC on 14 NOV, bound for US airports is suspended.
“For more information check ATCSCC Advisory.
“NMOC (Network Manager Operations Centre) is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates accordingly.”
Eurocontrol has 42 member states, including the UK, Ireland, Germany and France, as well as two agreement states – Israel and Morocco.
It is only the second time flights have been grounded across the US since the September 11 terror attacks in 2001.
Flights were halted by the FAA in January 2023 because of a system error.
US homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin said: “There is no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones. This isn’t another 9/11… This is a telecommunications outage.
“Throughout FAA, out of abundant of caution, we have grounded all the flights, and all the flights are accounted for.
“As incoming flights, either internationally or the flights that are currently still in the air, we’ll be dealing with those case by case.
“As you can imagine, there will be a priority list as they start coming in.”
Mr Mullin added: “Everybody is safe. There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying or anything like that. I just want to make sure everybody’s at ease about that.”
He went on: “There is no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunication outage as of right now.”
Mr Mullin has acknowledged it is “a crisis”.
He said: “Every agency that has an asset that is involved in this… we’re all working together. But that’s what we do, right?
“I don’t want to get to say that this is a crisis but it is because we had to do a nationwide ground stoppage.”
But Mr Mullin added: “It’s what the government works well at.
“That’s what we’re here for, and so we are well positioned and communicating very well.
“The president took a lead in this immediately, and he gave us the assets and the communication to move forward in a fast way.”
Mr Mullin warned it will take “some time” to revolve the issue, adding people should not expect things to be “turned around within the hour”.
“This is going to take some time, but once again, everybody is safe,” he said.
“The flights are accounted for, and there should be no fear to the public at all.”
A spokesperson for American Airlines said: “The FAA has temporarily paused departures nationwide.
“Flights already in the air can continue to their destinations.
“We expect disruption to our schedule for the rest of the day, depending on the length of the FAA’s nationwide ground stop.
“It will be all hands-on deck across American to get customers on their way as soon as possible when the FAA lifts this ground stop.
Published: by Radio NewsHub