Singaporean recounts 20-hour delay after air traffic control glitch at major British airports

Travellers continued to face chaos at airports across Britain for a second day, with nearly 300 flights scrapped on Sept 9 due to the glitch.

Published Sep 09, 2026, 11:30 PM

Updated Sep 09, 2026, 11:50 PM

A technical glitch in Britain's air traffic control caused a 20-hour travel delay for Singaporean Aria Maish Nichani and diverted her flight to Paris.

Passengers faced long waits, lack of information, and limited food and water while travelling by bus, ferry, and coach to reach London.

The glitch disrupted thousands of flights, causing 1,300 cancellations on Sept 8 and nearly 300 more on Sept 9 across British airports.

SINGAPORE – Singaporean Aria Maish Nichani was supposed to land in London at 3.20pm on Sept 8 and settle into her new home for the next year as she pursues a master’s degree in curating at the Courtauld Institute of Art .

What she did not expect was for her journey from Singapore to London to include air, land and sea travel after a technical glitch affecting air traffic control services at major British airports extended her travel by more than 20 hours. The 23-year-old was on one of two Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights that were diverted due to the technical glitch.

Two other SIA flights scheduled to depart London Heathrow for Singapore on Sept 8 were cancelled.

Aria’s flight, SQ308, which had 401 passengers and 29 crew members on board, was diverted to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport in France, according to an SIA spokesperson.

From there, they were to take a ferry from Calais to Dover in England, before arriving in London, Aria told The Straits Times.

Recounting her experience , Aria said that she landed in Paris at 7pm on Sept 8.

She and the other passengers waited on board the aircraft for two hours before going through Paris immigration, she said.

At 12.30am on Sept 9 , Aria finally boarded a bus that would take the passengers to the ferry terminal in Calais, a two-hour ride away.

But at the ferry terminal, they were told that there was no ferry booked for the passengers, Aria said.

So they had to wait at the terminal till a ferry arrived, she added.

The ferry, with the buses on board, finally left Calais at 10.30am and took 90 minutes to reach Dover.

Passengers of the flight disembarked at Dover in England before continuing their journey to London on the same bus for another two hours , Aria said .

The stress of the delays, long waits and uncertainty was compounded by the lack of information, she added.

“I’m just frustrated with the fact that we were left in the dark for so many hours throughout the whole ordeal,” Aria said.

“All this time with very little food and water provided,” she added.

In London, the bus dropped the passengers off at Victoria rail station. “We are just relieved we finally arrived, and safely too,” said Aria.

The other SIA flight that was diverted, SQ318, flew to Munich Airport in Germany and landed at 8.09pm local time. There were 203 passengers and 19 crew members on board.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services said the issue had impacted its flight data processing system, resulting in thousands of flight disruptions across the country on Sept 8.

This was in addition to the more than 1,300 cancellations to and from British airports on Sept 8.

The Straits Times has contacted SIA for more information.

由于系统故障，英国各地机场连续第二天出现混乱，9 月 9 日近 300 个航班被取消。

发布于2026年9月9日晚上11:30

更新于2026年9月9日晚上11:50

英国空中交通管制出现技术故障，导致新加坡人 Aria Maish Nichani 的旅程延误了 20 个小时，并迫使她改道飞往巴黎。

乘客在乘坐公共汽车、渡轮和长途汽车前往伦敦的途中，面临着长时间的等待、信息匮乏以及食物和水供应有限的问题。

该故障扰乱了数千个航班，导致 9 月 8 日英国各机场取消了 1300 个航班，9 月 9 日又取消了近 300 个航班。

新加坡——新加坡人 Aria Maish Nichani 原定于 9 月 8 日下午 3 点 20 分抵达伦敦，并在接下来的一年里入住新家，同时在考陶尔德艺术学院攻读策展硕士学位。

她万万没想到，由于英国主要机场空中交通管制服务出现技术故障，导致她从新加坡到伦敦的旅程不得不辗转于空路、陆路和海路之间，行程因此延长了20多个小时。这位23岁的女孩乘坐的是新加坡航空公司（SIA）两架因技术故障而改道的航班之一。

另有两架原定于9月8日从伦敦希思罗机场飞往新加坡的新加坡航空航班被取消。

据新加坡航空公司发言人称，载有 401 名乘客和 29 名机组人员的 Aria 航空公司 SQ308 航班改降法国巴黎戴高乐机场。

据《海峡时报》报道，艾莉亚表示，他们随后将从加莱乘渡轮前往英国多佛，然后再抵达伦敦。

艾莉娅回忆起自己的经历时说，她于9月8日晚上7点抵达巴黎。

她说，她和其他乘客在飞机上等了两个小时才办理巴黎入境手续。

9 月 9 日凌晨 12 点 30 分，艾莉娅终于登上了一辆巴士，这辆巴士将载着乘客前往加莱的渡轮码头，车程为两小时。

但艾莉娅说，在渡轮码头，他们却被告知没有为乘客预订渡轮。

她补充说，所以他们只能在码头等待渡轮到来。

载着巴士的渡轮终于在上午 10:30 从加莱出发，用了 90 分钟到达多佛。

据Aria公司称，该航班的乘客在英国多佛下机后，又乘坐同一辆巴士行驶了两个小时才抵达伦敦。

她补充说，延误、长时间等待和不确定性带来的压力，又因缺乏信息而加剧。

“让我感到沮丧的是，在整个过程中，我们被蒙在鼓里好几个小时，”艾莉娅说。

她补充说：“这么长时间以来，我们几乎没有得到任何食物和水。”

在伦敦，巴士将乘客送到维多利亚火车站。“我们终于安全抵达，真是松了一口气，”艾莉娅说道。

另一架改道的新加坡航空航班SQ318飞往德国慕尼黑机场，并于当地时间晚上8点09分降落。机上共有203名乘客和19名机组人员。

英国国家空中交通服务部门表示，该问题影响了其飞行数据处理系统，导致9月8日全国数千个航班中断。

除此之外，9 月 8 日往返英国机场的航班还被取消了 1300 多个。

《海峡时报》已联系新加坡航空公司以获取更多信息。