Four flights at Southampton Airport were cancelled after nationwide air traffic control issues described as the 'worst in a decade' by a senior Government minister.

Two departing flights and two arrivals at Southampton Airport saw disruption on Monday due to the technical issue experienced by National Air Traffic Services, the airport confirmed.

The disruption included flights being cancelled.

Daily Echo: Southampton Airport.

However, today a spokesperson for the city's airport said it was back to ‘business as usual’ and no disruption was expected.

This was corroborated by the Southampton Airport website.

READ MORE: Southampton Airport warning over air traffic control issues

National Air Traffic Services (Nats) with its headquarters in Whiteley, over the Bank Holiday suffered what it described as a ‘technical issue’ preventing it from automatically processing flight plans.

This resulted in more than a quarter of flights at UK airports being cancelled on Monday.

At 3.15pm the problem was resolved, according to the services, but nationwide disruption continued into Tuesday as many aircraft and crews were out of position.

Analysis of flight data websites by the PA news agency shows at least 281 flights – including departures and arrivals – were cancelled on Tuesday at the UK’s six busiest airports.

Not a cybersecurity incident

An independent review is set to be carried out, according to Transport Secretary Mark Harper, who called the fault the worst incident of its kind in ‘nearly a decade’ but ruled out any cybersecurity issues.

Speaking to GB News, he said: "This was a technical fault. We do not think this was a cybersecurity incident.

"And what will happen now with an incident of this magnitude is there will be an independent review.”

He added: "It’s nearly a decade since there was a significant issue like this.

"We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again, because of all the disruption that’s been caused to passengers across the country."

Ryanair boss slams Nats

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has slammed air traffic control provider Nats for the “unacceptable” disruption caused over the past two days.

In a video message, the chief executive described Monday as “a very difficult day” with 250 flights cancelled, while a further 70 were axed on Tuesday.

He said: “We have been in contact with UK Nats.

“We still haven’t had an explanation from them (about) what exactly caused this failure yesterday and where were their back-up systems.

“It’s not acceptable that UK Nats simply allow their computer systems to be taken down and everybody’s flights get cancelled.”

There is speculation the fault was caused by a French airline submitting a flight plan to Nats in the wrong format.

Nats would not comment on whether that was accurate to PA.