More than 2,000 flights were cancelled across the United Kingdom on September 8 and 9, 2026, following a technical failure in the NATS air traffic control system. Major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted saw widespread disruption during the two-day period, with 30% of departures grounded on September 8 and 5% on September 9.
Technical Failure Linked to Flight Data System
NATS confirmed the cause was a fault in its flight data system, ruling out any cyberattack involvement. This incident marks the second significant NATS failure within three years, following a rogue flight plan error that caused a shutdown in August 2023. A spokeswoman emphasized that
the current outage was unrelated to the 2023 problem and that a full investigation would be conducted to determine the root cause.
Impact on Airlines and Passengers
Ryanair reported cancelling 260 flights, affecting 48,000 passengers and resulting in an estimated £3 million in losses. British Airways canceled 81 flights on September 8 and 190 on September 9, totaling around 290 flights disrupted over the two days. The cancellations also triggered flight diversions and delays at several other UK airports, compounding travel difficulties for passengers.
Government and NATS Response
Transport Minister Heidi Alexander directed the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to carry out an independent review of the outage. She
stated, “I am clear that passengers should not have to face this disruption, I have therefore asked the CAA to conduct an independent review to establish cause.” A government spokesperson described the disruption as “completely unacceptable” and expressed confidence in NATS CEO Martin Rolfe, who has been ordered to lead an internal investigation expected to report within a week.
Legal and Financial Context
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary criticized the outage as “an absolute rerun” of the 2023 incident, calling again for Martin Rolfe to step down. Ryanair is pursuing legal action against NATS in London’s High Court over the previous failure, seeking damages exceeding
£7 million. NATS, which is partly owned by British Airways, easyJet, pension funds, and the UK government, paid £175 million in dividends in 2025. The operator has faced repeated scrutiny following a July 2025 radar-related technical problem that also affected major UK airports.
