More than 2,000 flights were cancelled across UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Belfast on September 10 and 11, 2026. The disruption stemming from a major technical failure at NATS, the UK air traffic control provider, affected approximately 330,000 passengers. This marks the third significant failure of UK airspace management by NATS in three years, following outages in August 2023 and July 2025.
Government Orders Independent Review Amid Ongoing Concerns
Following the outage, UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander mandated an independent investigation into the causes of the failure. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been tasked with reporting their findings within six months, while
NATS must provide an initial account of the incident within one week. The UK government previously opposed a House of Commons amendment that would have required NATS to reimburse airlines for passenger compensation related to the service failures. The bill amendment was withdrawn after government opposition despite repeated system outages.
NATS and Airline Responses Highlight Crisis
NATS issued an apology and confirmed their operations remained stable while they collaborated with airlines and airports to manage recovery efforts. The company stated a full investigation would be conducted to identify the failure’s causes and remedial actions. Rhys of Ryanair called for the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe,
citing the disruption of over 65,000 Ryanair passengers and cancellation of more than 50 of their flights. Wizz Air criticized NATS as “not fit for purpose” and expressed disappointment over the technical failure causing delays and cancellations on peak summer travel days.
Passenger Impact and Compensation Limitations
The CAA indicated the disruption qualifies as “extraordinary circumstances” under passenger rights regulations, meaning most affected passengers are unlikely to receive compensation for cancellations and delays. The technical failure also caused knock-on effects across Europe, disrupting inbound flights beyond the UK. Major airlines including Ryanair, British Airways, easyJet, KLM, Eurowings and Wizz Air experienced significant operational challenges due
to the outage.
