Britain's air traffic service says it will compensate airlines over airspace closure chaos

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Passengers wait at Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, Dec. 12, 2014. London's airspace was closed today due to what authorities say was a computer failure at one of Britain's two air traffic control centres. Britain's national air traffic body says the computer problem that touched off troubles in the system has been fixed and it is in the process of returning to normal operations. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (The Associated Press)

Britain's air traffic service says it will compensate airlines for last week's computer glitch that briefly shut down London's busy airspace.

The National Air Traffic Service said late Wednesday "there will be a financial consequence for the company from the delay caused by the technical problem." It says the amount of the rebate to airlines is being calculated.

Passengers caught up in the disruption will have to seek compensation through their airlines.

NATS says an unprecedented computer systems failure Dec. 12 touched off mayhem that caused delays and canceled flights for thousands of passengers.

Chief executive Richard Deakin told British lawmakers Wednesday that "I can guarantee that this particular problem will not happen again but I cannot honestly sit here and say we will never have a computer glitch again."