Transatlantic Flights Diverted After Edinburgh Airport Air Traffic Control Failure

A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Scotland was forced to divert after an IT failure halted air traffic operations at Edinburgh Airport. Delta Flight 208 departed New York on Thursday evening and was scheduled to land around 9 a.m. local time after its six-hour crossing of the Atlantic. But upon arrival, the Boeing 767 was unable to land and spent about 20 minutes circling south of Edinburgh before diverting to Dublin, where it touched down shortly after 10 a.m.

Edinburgh Airport confirmed the disruption on X, stating: “Due to an IT issue with our air traffic control provider, no flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport.” The outage prompted at least 11 inbound flights to divert, with most rerouted to Glasgow, according to FlightAware data. Less than an hour after the Delta aircraft landed in Dublin, Edinburgh Airport announced that flights had resumed. Delta has not yet commented on the diversion.

In a separate incident the same day, a United Airlines flight from London Heathrow to San Francisco was forced to declare an in-flight emergency and divert to Edinburgh. United Flight UA949 took off around 2:05 p.m., but less than 90 minutes into the journey the crew squawked 7700 — the universal emergency code. Tracking accounts noted the Boeing 777-200ER appeared to be returning toward its origin before diverting to Scotland, where it landed safely at about 4:40 p.m.

According to AirLive.net, an ACARS message suggested the aircraft was experiencing a brake issue, while another report indicated a recirculation fan failure. Edinburgh Live reported that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service responded but was ultimately told to stand down once the aircraft landed safely. Neither United Airlines nor Edinburgh Airport has yet issued an official statement on the cause of the emergency or when the aircraft will resume service.

The diversion marks United’s second long-haul disruption in less than a week. Six days earlier, a United flight from Washington Dulles to Tokyo was diverted to San Francisco nine hours into its 13- to 14-hour journey due to a technical issue. After a significant delay, the aircraft finally continued its journey and reached its destination roughly 24 hours after departure.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, yahoo.com, AirLive.net