A United Airlines flight to Bermuda suffered a nine-hour delay yesterday after communications issues at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Flight 1985 was expected to depart at 10.23am on Thursday but it was postponed owing to a temporary ground stop that was implemented after air traffic control services experienced technical issues at the US airport.

The flight was among dozens that were grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration yesterday morning.

The ground stop — a measure enforced when conditions such as weather or equipment failure affect airport operations — was eventually lifted at about noon.

ABC News reported that the situation improved throughout the day but inbound flights remained heavily impacted into the night.

The domino effect of delays remained for hours, the report said.

According to United’s website, the Bermuda-bound flight returned to the gate at New Jersey during the postponement. The carrier apologised for the delay on its website.

The flight eventually left at about 7.30pm and landed at LF Wade International Airport at about 10.53pm.

The outbound flight left the island at about midnight.