A technical issue with air traffic control at the Prestwick Centre in South Ayrshire, Scotland, was resolved on 21 September 2026, but flight delays and cancellations are continuing today across multiple UK airports, mainly in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
Nats engineers fixed the problem affecting the Prestwick Centre, which manages air traffic over Scotland and northern England. Despite the resolution, flights at Glasgow, Prestwick, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Belfast City, East Midlands, Dundee, and Benbecula airports continue to experience delays and some cancellations.
Airports Experiencing Delays and Cancellations
Manchester Airport reported delays up to one hour on several flights, with similar disruptions also present
at East Midlands Airport. Glasgow Airport, operated by AGS which also runs Aberdeen and Southampton airports, is facing the most significant delays among AGS sites, with anticipated knock-on disruptions across the network.
Belfast City Airport has cancelled multiple flights including routes to and from Manchester, Amsterdam, London City, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Highlands and Islands airports confirmed disruptions affecting flight schedules at 11 regional airports, including Dundee and Benbecula.
Ryanair reported that a Nats equipment failure impacted 140 flights and approximately 25,000 passengers over UK and Irish airspace, mainly affecting northern air traffic. According to Nats, airports south of Manchester remain
largely unaffected while northern bound flights and departures from Scottish airports are subject to delays.
Official Statements and Responses
A Nats spokesperson stated, “The issue in our Prestwick centre is now fixed. We are working with airports and airlines to safely lift air traffic regulations as quickly as we can to minimise any further disruption.” The spokesperson also urged passengers to confirm flight statuses directly with their airlines.
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the situation as “deeply frustrating for passengers after the previous issue.” Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney pledged to work with Nats to improve system resilience, saying, “We’ll engage with the
national air traffic control service to ensure that these issues are addressed and that the resilience necessary for these systems is available at all times.” Edinburgh Airport confirmed ongoing delays and close coordination with Nats.
An AGS spokesperson acknowledged the disruption at Glasgow Airport and its wider effects, stating that it was the second time within two weeks that Nats technical problems significantly impacted services. Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon criticized the recurrence of failures just days after mitigation plans were announced, calling on Nats CEO Martin Rolfe to resign. Rolfe declined to step down despite the incident being
the fourth national air traffic control failure involving Nats in the past three years.
Passenger Experiences and Airline Reactions
Passengers reported multiple cancellations and extensive delays. Nicole McCloskey from Kilmarnock had her flight to Paris cancelled but managed to rebook for later the same day. Frank Bonner, travelling from Glasgow to Las Vegas for a wedding, faced a cancelled connecting flight to London and expected to lose a day of travel. Lewis Fraser was delayed on a plane at Glasgow Airport and told the BBC flight departure could be postponed by over one hour, jeopardizing his connecting flight to Chicago.
Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy expressed
frustration, stating that customers and airlines should not repeatedly experience disruption due to unreliable UK air traffic control systems. British Airways described the situation as “disappointing” after another Nats fault caused customer disruptions.
Background on Nats System Failures
Nats handles about 2.5 million flights annually across the UK. The air traffic control issue at Prestwick Centre is separate from a software defect earlier in September 2026 that led to 2,000 flight cancellations nationwide. Previous incidents include a computer shutdown in 2023 that affected 700,000 passengers and a 2025 outage causing 150 flight cancellations.
The recurring technical failures have raised concerns among airlines and officials regarding
the reliability and resilience of the UK’s air traffic control infrastructure. Nats states it has implemented mitigation plans after the last incident but critics, including Ryanair, say these have not prevented system failures.
