London’s airspace will be closed until 1900 GMT Friday due to a computer failure, Eurocontrol said.
“All London airspace is closed due to computer failure until 1900,” the air traffic management organisation said.
“More information will be published when available.”
In a later statement, Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said airspace was no longer shut but “restricted”. Eurocontrol in Brussels said airspace over London was briefly shut.
“We’re restricting traffic volumes in accordance with capability we currently have in our system,” NATS said in a tweet.
The problem was identified at the Swanwick air traffic control centre in southern England.
In a statement, the agency said: “UK airspace has not been closed, but airspace capacity has been restricted in order to manage the situation.”
Severe travel delays were expected because of the restrictions, with British media reporting that the malfunction was a “radar display issue”.
Eurocontrol earlier said: “All London airspace is closed due to computer failure until 1900 GMT