MONDAY'S travel disruption caused by an air traffic control fault has led to a Co Tyrone woman missing a "very important" medical check-up following a heart transplant.
Serena Hamilton, from Cookstown, had been due to attend the appointment at Newcastle Freeman Hospital on Tuesday morning.
She told BBC NI that the check-up was related to transplant surgery she underwent last year. But she learned her booked flight was among those cancelled as a result of restrictions imposed by the UK's National Air Traffic Services after it identified a "technical issue".
Ms Hamilton said she would miss the appointment as the next available flight from Belfast International Airport would not get her into Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in time.
"I had a transplant 15 months ago and these appointments are very important," she told the broadcaster.
"Now I have to go home and try to get in contact with the clinic to tell them that I am not going to be able to make it."
She added on Monday: "That's a loss of an appointment not just for me, but someone else could have taken that appointment and I'm not going to be able to inform them because the clinic is closed today."
Although the air traffic issue was rectified on Monday afternoon, 14 evening flights due to take off from Belfast International were cancelled.
They included easyJet flights to London's Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports, along with flights from the low-cost carrier to Palma de Mallorca and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
