A connectivity fault at NATS’s Prestwick Centre in Scotland on the morning of September 21, 2026, led to air traffic restrictions that disrupted flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England. By 13:45 BST, aviation analytics provider Cirium reported approximately 200 UK flights had been canceled or did not operate, with knock-on delays continuing into the afternoon despite restoration efforts.
Prestwick Fault Specifics and Immediate Impact
NATS described the incident as “a connectivity issue with part of our systems network, specific to the operation in Scotland,” distinguishing it from a separate software failure occurring earlier that month. The fault, unrelated to the September 8 legacy software
defect, was resolved by about 10:30 BST. Full operational capacity was restored by 14:36 BST, allowing NATS to begin recovery of residual flight delays.
The Prestwick Centre controls approximately 42% of UK air traffic across northern England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. During the fault, NATS imposed air traffic regulations to maintain safety. Airports in these regions experienced disruption, while airports south of Manchester remained broadly unaffected.
Airport and Airline Disruptions
Glasgow Airport and Edinburgh Airport reported delays, as did Manchester Airport, where some flights were delayed by up to one hour. The Highlands and Islands Airports, operating 11 regional airports, confirmed schedule impacts due
to the fault.
Belfast City Airport saw several cancellations affecting routes including flights to and from Manchester, Amsterdam, and London City Airport. Bristol Airport attributed flight delays and cancellations directly to the Prestwick fault. London City, Luton, and Gatwick airports also experienced varying levels of disruption.
Circuit data from Cirium showed around 200 cancellations by mid-afternoon on September 21, encompassing 100 arrivals and 99 departures across the UK. easyJet canceled 47 of its 670 scheduled departures, British Airways canceled 11 of 513 departures, and Ryanair reported delays to over 140 flights, affecting more than 25,000 passengers.
Airlines’ Responses and Criticism
Ryanair publicly stated the
same flight data processing system that failed on September 8 had failed again on September 21, calling for the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe. Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, criticized prior NATS assurances about system resilience after the September 8 failure, calling them “completely worthless.”
easyJet described the incident as raising concerns over NATS’s system resilience and urged firm action to prevent repeat failures. British Airways labeled the fault “yet another technical fault with NATS” beyond its control.
Jet2 Chief Executive Steve Heapy questioned the frequency of such failures, stating, “How many more failures do customers and airlines
have to deal with?” Jet2 also indicated plans to bill NATS for disruption costs. Wizz Air UK’s managing director called the situation a “national confidence crisis” in NATS.
Airlines UK chief Tim Alderslade emphasized that air traffic control is “critical national infrastructure” and called for reforms in the forthcoming civil aviation bill to address system weaknesses.
Official Remarks and Ongoing Investigations
NATS emphasized safety as its first priority, apologizing for the disruption and stating that engineers had restored systems quickly. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed on social media that the problem was fixed and that systems were resuming normal operation, while acknowledging passenger frustration following
the earlier failure.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney confirmed government engagement with NATS to address the connectivity fault and ensure resolution of ongoing issues.
The UK government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are conducting an independent review following the September 8 failure, though it remains unclear whether this review includes the fault at Prestwick on September 21. NATS has not released detailed technical information on the September 21 fault or indicated whether backup systems were employed during the incident.
