Arsenal's journey to Italy for their UEFA Champions League opener has been thrown into disarray after a technical failure at Nats, the United Kingdom's air traffic control provider, caused the club's flight to be heavily delayed on Tuesday.

The London side are scheduled to face Napoli in their first group-stage fixture of this season's European campaign, but the disruption to UK airspace has complicated travel arrangements significantly.

The Nats technical problem grounded or delayed numerous flights across the country, with Arsenal among the high-profile victims of the chaos. The club's departure from the UK was pushed back considerably, casting doubt over the squad's arrival time and pre-match preparations in Italy.

Arsenal will be keen to hit the ground running in the UEFA Champions League this season and the travel setback is far from an ideal start to their continental challenge. Despite the disruption, the club has not indicated the fixture itself is under threat.