'We just really needed it...' Single mum ‘in tears’ after holiday cancelled amid air traffic control chaos

A single mum who saved up for a holiday for her and her daughter was in tears after being told it was cancelled. Sarah Watkinson was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Quarteira in Portugal with her daughter Olivia, 11, at 7am on Tuesday morning.

But she found herself among the hundreds of passengers whose flights were cancelled following a technical fault in the UK’s air traffic control (ATC) system.

The error meant the UK air traffic controllers had to input flight plans manually on Monday and UK airspace was restricted. Although the fault was fixed later that day, the issue continued to impact flights on Tuesday and the disruption is set to last for days.

Sarah, from St Helens, said she had saved up for the holiday to make memories with her daughter after a difficult year. She told the Liverpool Echo: "I bought it late on because my daughter starts high school and she's got two inset days.

Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.

"Because it was later [in the summer] it made it a bit cheaper. I couldn't really afford to go. I'm a single parent and a student so obviously money is very tight.

"We were due to fly back at 2pm on the Tuesday and my daughter starts high school on the Wednesday so we can't even extend it or rearrange it. I'm back at university as well."

The 39-year-old said she initially received an email to say her flight was expected to depart at a later time than planned and she was advised not to travel to the airport and await more information. But in a further update at 6.15am on Tuesday, Sarah was told her flight was now cancelled - only 45 minutes before it was originally due to depart.

She added: "The email said we'll be refunded within