A technical failure at the NATS air traffic control centre in Prestwick, Scotland, on Monday, 21 September 2026, resulted in a 60% reduction in flight capacity across Scottish-controlled airspace. Eurocontrol data indicated that capacity affecting some transatlantic departures was also reduced by approximately 40%, particularly impacting routes between Britain, Europe and North America.
EasyJet canceled more than 20 flights as a direct consequence of the disruption. At least 24 cancellations were reported across affected UK airports, with dozens more flights delayed. British Airways and KLM services were also disrupted. Significant delays and cancellations were recorded at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports,
as well as on flights involving Northern Ireland and northern England.
To manage the technical failure, some flight processing had to be conducted manually. NATS confirmed that airports located south of Manchester remained largely unaffected, but flights departing from Scottish airports and those traveling north faced ongoing restrictions. Engineers remained on site at the Prestwick centre working to diagnose and resolve the issue.
NATS emphasized that this incident is unrelated to the major UK air traffic control outage that occurred earlier in September 2026. Passengers scheduled to fly through Scotland or northern Britain were urged to verify their flight status
with their airline as cancellations and delays persisted.
