IRISH airspace had to be closed on Tuesday evening over a ‘technical issue’ that led to the cancellation of some flights and others rerouted.
The issue, believed to be with the flight radar at Shannon ATC, affected Shannon and Cork airports.
Although a back-up system allowed the resumption of services, a knock-on effect may affect early morning flights.
Passengers have been advised to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.
Investigation
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it is investigating the matter.
“Earlier this evening a technical issue occurred with the Shannon ATC system,” they said in a statement.
IAA is aware of a technical issue in Shannon ATC. The issue is currently being investigated. As a precaution the flow of traffic has been restricted. We will provide an update shortly.
— IAA (@IAApress) October 2, 2018
“Safety is the IAA’s main priority and in accordance with normal procedure the IAA restricted air traffic while the issue was being investigated.
“Flights to and from Shannon and Cork were affected by the restriction. Dublin was not affected.
“As part of planned contingency, the IAA moved to its back-up systems and the flight restrictions have been lifted.
“Traffic flows are now in the process of being restored to normal capacity.
“Flights are now operating again to and from Shannon and Cork.
“An investigation into the technical issue is ongoing.”
Cancellations
The 8.15pm Aer Lingus flight from Cork to London Heathrow was cancelled, as was the return flight.
An Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow and a Ryanair flight from Krakow, both bound for Shannon, were temporarily diverted to Dublin.
This also affects all aircraft flying over Ireland. Several transatlantic flights had to be re-routed to avoid Irish airspacehttps://t.co/ocuGt3Rcp9 pic.twitter.com/MHwwHxcQ5b
— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) October 2, 2018
The capital’s airport was unaffected by the issue due to its proximity to UK Air Traffic Control.
Both flights eventually resumed their course for Shannon and landed safely.
Cork Airport reported a ‘significant systems failure with a radar’ was the cause of the issue and had caused a ‘zero flow rate’.
They added that anything already in the airspace was processed through or had landed but nothing else was allowed to enter the airspace until the problem was rectified.
This resulted in several transatlantic flights being rerouted to avoid Irish airspace.
