More than 1,750 flights were canceled across 15 UK airports starting Tuesday, September 8, 2026, due to a technical failure in the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) system. The disruption continued through Wednesday, September 9, affecting major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, and those in Scotland.
NATS attributed the issue to “an issue in our flight processing system” that caused widespread delays and cancellations. Heathrow Airport, Europe’s largest, advised passengers to “only travel if your flight is confirmed to be operating.” The airport deployed extra staff to assist thousands of passengers stranded at terminals and runways. Airlines were
forced to reposition aircraft and rebook passengers, causing cascading operational challenges across the network.
Airlines and Government React
Budget carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air publicly criticized NATS management following the outage. Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon demanded the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe, citing repeated failures including a similar major system outage in 2023. Ryanair canceled more than 50 scheduled flights, disrupting over 65,000 passengers. EasyJet reported delays across Europe with some flights unable to operate due to the system failure.
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Rolfe for a high-level meeting, stating she sought assurances “that lessons will be learned and
systems that support aviation are up to the job.” The political pressure followed growing airline and passenger frustration over the reliability of the UK’s air traffic control infrastructure.
Safety and Recovery Efforts
Martin Rolfe apologized for the inconvenience caused by the outage but emphasized safety as the top priority. He told the BBC, “Our job is also to make sure that people stay safe.” Rolfe said the decision to pause flights was never taken lightly and was necessary when issues cannot be quickly resolved to protect those currently in the air.
He explained that restoring the complex air traffic control systems occurs as swiftly
as possible. Heathrow continues to work with NATS and airline partners to return operations to normal. Despite the disruption, NATS asserted the UK’s air traffic control system remains one of the safest and most efficient worldwide.
