A "technical issue" hit UK air traffic control systems, with thousands of people affected by flight delays.
Holidaymakers are stuck all over the UK and abroad, with the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) saying it had applied restrictions to traffic flow.
Passengers have been advised to check if their flight is affected on one of the biggest travel days of the year.
One told BBC News he could be waiting until the early hours for his delayed flight to return to the UK.
Nats apologised for the fault just after midday on Monday, before it announced at 15:15 BST that it had identified and remedied the issue that was affecting its "ability to automatically process flight plans".
It added that engineers would be monitoring the system's performance as it returns to normal.
It had earlier stressed that "UK airspace is not closed, we have had to apply air traffic flow restrictions which ensures we can maintain safety".
Several airports across the UK, and airlines including Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizz Air, Loganair and Aer Lingus all warned passengers of delays or cancellations to flights.
British Airways said the air traffic control issue had caused "significant and unavoidable delays and cancellations" and apologised for the huge inconvenience caused.
It has advised customers who are travelling on short-haul services not to travel to the airport unless their flight is still on.
The airline added customers due to travel on Monday and Tuesday may be able to move their flights free of charge to a later date.
Alastair Rosenschein, a former British Airways pilot and now an aviation consultant, called the disruption "huge" - and said the equivalent for cars would be if every road was closed in the country.
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