A technical failure in the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight processing system, beginning around 1pm on September 8, 2026, forced the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights across multiple UK airports. Airports affected included London Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Belfast City, East Midlands, Jersey, and London Luton.
Flight Disruptions Extend Into September 9, 2026
FlightRadar24 reported 177 additional cancellations scheduled for September 9, mainly at Heathrow Airport. Heathrow suspended arrivals for the rest of September 8, resuming departures later that day, but disruptions continued through September 9. British Airways cancelled or diverted over 100 flights on September 8, impacting tens of thousands of customers.
Ryanair cancelled more than 50 flights and delayed over 65,000 passengers. The disruption initially affected outbound flights but expanded to inbound flights arriving into southern England and caused knock-on delays across European airspace coordinated by Eurocontrol.
NATS and Government Respond to Incident
The failure was resolved by NATS approximately four hours after the disruption began, with the system restored by 4:40pm on September 8. NATS CEO Martin Rolfe issued an apology, taking full responsibility and describing the recovery as complex. Rolfe said, “We absolutely take responsibility for this. We never want this sort of thing to happen.” UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander stated technicians swiftly identified
and began fixing the issue and expressed regret over the disruption. She is seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and aviation systems improved. Ryanair’s COO Neal McMahon criticized NATS leadership, calling for Rolfe’s resignation. Wizz Air also condemned NATS as “not fit for purpose” after repeated failures. British Airways offered free rebooking until September 11, 2026.
Traveler Impact and Airport Operations
Thousands of passengers experienced cancellations and delays at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Belfast City, East Midlands, Jersey, and London Luton airports. Flights were held on runways for extended periods, with boarding and disembarking delayed particularly at Gatwick. NATS advised travelers to
confirm flight status directly with airlines and only travel if flights are confirmed. British Airways granted free rebooking options until Friday, September 11. Some inbound flights had to be held at foreign airports due to UK airspace restrictions related to the failure.
Previous UK Air Traffic Control Failures
This marks the third major air traffic control stoppage in the UK within just over three years, following significant outages in 2023 and 2025. The 2023 failure disrupted more than 700,000 passengers and led to a parliamentary inquiry. NATS provides air traffic control for 15 UK airports and works with Eurocontrol for European airspace coordination. NATS confirmed this
2026 failure was a technical fault different from the previous incidents but equally disruptive to the aviation network.
