2 SIA flights cancelled, 2 diverted after air traffic control glitch at major British airports
Airline says it gave affected passengers assistance such as hotel accommodation and ground transport
[SINGAPORE] Two Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights were diverted and another two were cancelled on Tuesday (Sep 8) due to a technical glitch affecting air traffic control services at major airports in Britain.
In a statement on Wednesday, SIA said flights SQ308 and SQ318 from Singapore to London Heathrow had to be diverted.
Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said the issue had impacted its flight data processing system, resulting in thousands of flight disruptions across the country.
An SIA spokesperson said that SQ308, which had 401 passengers and 29 crew members on board, was diverted to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in France.
The Airbus A380-800 aircraft landed at around 6.30 pm local time (12.30 am Singapore time on Wednesday) and passengers were transferred to London by land.
Meanwhile, SQ318 was diverted to Munich Airport in Germany and landed at 8.09 pm local time (2.09 am Singapore time on Wednesday).
There were 203 passengers and 19 crew members on board.
The airline said that it plans to operate the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from Munich to London Heathrow “once the necessary clearances have been received”.
Due to the diversions, SIA said that return flights SQ319 and SQ321, which were scheduled to depart London Heathrow for Singapore on Tuesday, were cancelled.
Travellers continued to face chaos at airports across Britain for a second day, with more than 150 flights scrapped on Wednesday due to the glitch.
This was in addition to the 1,300 cancellations to and from British airports on Tuesday.
Nats said it was still working to resolve the disruption following a “system issue”.
According to live flight tracker FlightRadar24, nearly all the flights cancelled on Wednesday were at Heathrow in London.
The airport said late on Tuesday that departures had resumed, after it was forced to suspend arrivals earlier that day.
However, it has warned that “disruption is expected to continue”.
In its statement, SIA said it provided affected passengers with the assistance they needed, including hotel accommodation and ground transport.
The airline also helped passengers to rebook their connecting flights, the spokesperson said.
Passengers are advised to visit SIA’s flight status page for more information on their flights.
“SIA sincerely apologises to all affected customers for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority,” it said.
The latest air traffic chaos follows a technical glitch in July 2025 that saw scores of flights to and from Britain cancelled, prompting anger from airline chiefs.
Britain suffered its worst air systems failure in years in 2023, with more than 700,000 passengers affected after hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled. THE STRAITS TIMES
