Full Breakdown
Major UK Air-Traffic-Control Glitch Triggers Widespread Flight Cancellations
9/10/2026, 11:35:40 AM
Core Event
On Tuesday afternoon National Air Traffic Services (NATS) – the UK’s air-traffic-control provider – reported a technical fault in its flight-processing system at the Swanwick centre. The outage lasted about four hours and forced a shutdown of departures across the 15 airports it serves. Flight-tracking data showed 1,300 flights cancelled to and from UK airports on Tuesday, with an additional 177 cancellations at Heathrow and 33 at Gatwick recorded early Wednesday. By the end of the second day more than 2,000 flights had been affected, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.
Background & Context
This is the third major NATS failure in three years. A flight-plan processing failure in August 2023 grounded hundreds of flights and disrupted 700,000 passengers. A July 2025 radar-related issue cancelled about 150 flights. Each incident highlighted the complexity of NATS’s system architecture and limited backup capacity.
Data & Statistics
- 1,300 flights cancelled on Tuesday (FlightRadar24).
- 291 flights cancelled on Wednesday (Cirium).
- British Airways cancelled almost 550 flights, affecting over 85,000 passengers.
- Ryanair reported more than 65,000 passengers disrupted and over 50 flights cancelled.
- Economic impact estimates range from £70 million to almost £100 million.
Official Statements & Responses
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said NATS had ruled out a cyber-attack and that “the issue was not unavoidable.”
- NATS spokesperson reiterated the incident was unrelated to the 2023 outage and pledged a full investigation.
- NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe echoed the secretary’s view, stating “I do not believe this issue was unavoidable.”
- Downing Street affirmed confidence in Rolfe despite concerns over the scale of disruption.
- The Civil Aviation Authority will conduct an independent review, with a report due within six months. NATS will deliver an internal investigation report within a week.
Criticism & Opposition
- Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s COO, called for Rolfe’s resignation, describing the failure as “an abhorrent failure” and saying “nothing has changed” since the 2023 collapse.
- Yvonne Moynihan, managing director of Wizz Air UK, warned that three failures should trigger leadership change.
- Airlines UK, representing carriers such as easyJet and Tui, wrote to the transport secretary expressing “serious concern and frustration” over the repeated breakdowns.
On-the-Ground Reports
Passengers described extreme hardship. Kevin Turner, travelling from Thailand for his daughter’s wedding, was told his flight was cancelled at the last minute and faced a multi-day re-routing effort. Others reported sleeping on terminal floors, limited food and water, and long queues for assistance.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
- Cancellation counts differ: FlightRadar24 cites 1,300 total cancellations, while Cirium records 291 additional cancellations on Wednesday.
- Cost estimates vary between £70 million and £100 million.
- Ryanair claims the fault is “exactly the same issue” as the 2023 outage, while NATS maintains the current glitch is unrelated.
What’s Next
- The Civil Aviation Authority’s independent review will be submitted to the transport secretary within six months.
- NATS’s internal investigation report is scheduled for delivery in a week.
- The Civil Aviation Bill, slated for a second reading in the Commons, aims to strengthen passenger-rights protections and clarify accountability for future air-traffic-control failures.
