Flights to and from the Isle of Man could face delays following a technical issue affecting the UK's air traffic control network.

Isle of Man Airport said this afternoon (Tuesday, September 8) that it was aware of an issue affecting NATS' London Area Control Centre, which had resulted in temporary restrictions across parts of the UK airspace network.

The airport said some services could be delayed, particularly flights operating to and from London airports.

It stressed that the issue is not related to air traffic control operations at Isle of Man Airport.

NATS, which is the UK's leading provider of air traffic control services, manages aircraft movements through UK airspace and provides air traffic services at a number of airports. It handles more than 2.5 million flights each year.

In a statement issued today, NATS said: ‘We are investigating a technical issue which is causing some disruption to flight departures.’

It added that its engineers were on site working to resolve the problem.

NATS said: ‘We apologise for the delay this will cause to journeys, passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight.’

The organisation said further updates would be provided through its website and social media channels.

Isle of Man Airport said it was monitoring the situation closely with NATS and its airline partners.

It advised passengers to check the latest status of their flight directly with their airline before travelling to the airport.

The airport said: ‘This is a wider UK air traffic control issue and is not related to air traffic control operations at Isle of Man Airport.’

It added that further updates would be provided if required.

NATS' London Area Control Centre is responsible for controlling aircraft travelling through a large area of UK airspace, meaning technical problems there can have knock-on effects for flights operating between different airports.

At this stage, no indication has been given of how long the disruption is expected to last.

The London Heathrow service due to arrive at Ronaldsway at 3.25pm today (Tuesday) is now expected to be around an hour late amid the ongoing UK air traffic control disruption.