‘IT issue’ at Edinburgh Airport: flights delayed and cancelled

Dozens of flights from and to Edinburgh were grounded or diverted due to an ‘IT issue’. The issue took place on Sunday, 15th of December, and left passengers stranded for hours, until the traffic resumed around 7 pm. 

Edinbourg Airport technical issue – what happened?

On Sunday afternoon, the 15th of December, Air Traffic Control at the Edinburgh Airport encountered an ‘IT issue’. The problem started around 3 pm and resulted in all flights from or to Edinburgh being delayed, cancelled or diverted to other airports. Passengers were left stranded, as planes were unable to take off or were redirected to other destinations. Among the affected airlines were EasyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, KLM and Aer Lingus.

The issue was resolved and flights resumed around 7 pm, however passengers were still advised to check their flight status with their airlines as some flights could have still been affected. 

What are my rights if my flight from or to Edinburgh Airport was disrupted due to a technical issue?

Issues in the airport’s IT systems fall under the category of the so-called “extraordinary circumstances”, meaning circumstances that are not under the airline’s control. This means that passengers are unfortunately not entitled to compensation, because it’s not the airlines that are at fault for the disruptions.

When am I entitled to flight compensation then?

You can claim flight compensation if the airline was at fault for the disruption AND:

• Your flight was delayed for over 3 hours – meaning that you arrived at your final destination at least 3 hours later than planned 
• The delay you experienced caused you to miss your connecting flight, leading you to arrive at your final destination at least 3 hours late. However, keep in mind that all connecting flights have to appear on the same booking.
• Your flight was cancelled less then 14 days before the planned departure

Edinburgh Airport IT issue – is my flight affected?

Find your flight in our regularly refreshed list of recently delayed and cancelled flights: