A technical fault at NATS’s Prestwick Control Centre in Scotland on the morning of September 21, 2026, disrupted flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England, resulting in approximately 200 cancellations and widespread delays. The fault was repaired by around 10:30 BST, but knock-on delays persisted into the afternoon.
Scope and Impact of the Disruption
NATS manages about 42% of UK air traffic from Prestwick, overseeing airspace covering northern England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Airports including Glasgow (GLA), Edinburgh (EDI), Manchester (MAN), Belfast City (BHD), Bristol (BRS), London City (LCY), Luton (LTN), and Gatwick (LGW) reported delays and cancellations linked to the fault.
Several flights from
Belfast City Airport to destinations such as Manchester, Amsterdam, and London City were canceled. Bristol and London City airports experienced flight disruptions attributed to the fault, while Luton reported domestic flight delays and Gatwick noted a small number of delayed flights. Airports located south of Manchester remained largely unaffected.
Flight Cancellations and Airline Responses
Cirium data indicated that by 13:45 BST on September 21, around 200 UK flights were canceled or failed to operate. This figure includes all cancellations on the day, not solely those caused by the Prestwick fault. EasyJet canceled 47 of its 670 scheduled departures and criticized NATS’s system resilience. British Airways
canceled 11 of 513 scheduled departures, attributing the issue as “entirely out of our control.”
Ryanair reported over 140 delayed flights affecting more than 25,000 passengers. The airline alleged the recurrence of a failure in the flight data processing system and called for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe’s resignation. Jet2’s CEO Steve Heapy questioned the frequency of failures affecting customers and announced plans to bill NATS for disruption-related costs. Wizz Air UK’s managing director Yvonne Moynihan described the situation as a “national confidence crisis” in NATS.
Technical Fault Details and Official Statements
NATS stated the fault was a “connectivity issue with part of our systems network, specific
to the operation in Scotland,” clarifying it was unrelated to the earlier nationwide failure on September 8 at the Swanwick Control Centre. The company did not disclose specific technical or operational details, including the duration of applied air traffic restrictions or use of backup systems.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed that “engineers have fixed the problem and systems are resuming,” acknowledging passenger frustration following the September 8 disruption. Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said his government would engage with NATS “to ensure that these issues are addressed.” NATS affirmed safety as its highest priority and reported working with airlines to
recover residual delays after the fault was resolved.
Relation to Previous Air Traffic Failures
The September 21 fault at Prestwick followed a major UK-wide air traffic control failure on September 8 at Swanwick, which caused delays, cancellations, or diversions for over 2,000 flights impacting more than 330,000 passengers. That earlier incident was linked to a legacy software defect in the National Airspace System.
An independent review into the September 8 failure is ongoing. The government, NATS, and the Civil Aviation Authority have not stated whether this review will extend to examine the Prestwick fault. Airlines UK emphasized the need for legislative action to address weaknesses in
the UK’s air traffic control infrastructure, calling it “critical national infrastructure.”
NATS has implemented an engineering framework aiming to better manage system link failures and expedite recovery in the event of future incidents. Ryanair disputed these assurances following the September 21 fault, highlighting repeated system failures.
