On September 10, 2026, a technical failure in the UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight processing system caused cancellation of more than 2,000 flights across major UK airports. The disruption affected London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, and Dublin airports, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Airline Flight Cancellations and Recovery Efforts
British Airways reported nearly 550 flight cancellations on Tuesday, impacting approximately 85,000 customers. Following the initial disruption, British Airways canceled an additional 190 flights on Wednesday but managed to operate around 80% of its scheduled services that day. The airline rebooked over 60,000 affected customers and offered free flight changes through Sunday, September 13.
Ryanair cancelled 260 flights affecting 48,000 passengers and reported losses of £3 million attributed to the outage. The airline’s CEO Michael O’Leary condemned the failure, calling it a repeat of a similar 2023 outage, and urged NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to resign.
Government Response and Regulatory Action
UK Transport Minister Heidi Alexander summoned NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to explain the failure and stated, “I do not believe this issue was unavoidable.” The government has mandated NATS to conduct a full investigation and report back within one week. Additionally, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will conduct an independent six-month review to determine the root cause and
evaluate the reliability of air traffic control systems.
The UK government confirmed a cyberattack was not responsible for the outage.
Previous Failures and Industry Reactions
This is the second major NATS air traffic control failure in three years. The August 2023 shutdown caused losses of £100 million for airlines, and a radar-related technical problem in July 2025 affected Heathrow and other key airports. Ryanair is pursuing legal action against NATS for over £7 million related to the 2023 outage.
Industry group Airlines UK criticized gaps in the UK aviation regulatory framework, noting airlines bear the financial burden of disruptions caused by external failures beyond their
control. Airlines UK CEO Tim Alderslade said, “The latest NATS failure has again exposed a gap in the UK’s aviation regulatory framework.”
Passenger Impact and Assistance
Passengers faced cancellations, delays, diversions, and stranded aircraft due to the outage and subsequent crew mispositioning. British Airways provided refunds, rebooking, and offered free changes on affected flights through September 13. The CAA clarified that passengers would likely not receive compensation as the disruption qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance but must be provided assistance such as refunds, meals, and accommodation.
Airports including Heathrow and Gatwick warned travelers of potential knock-on impacts as operations resumed.
Ongoing Investigations and Infrastructure Implications
NATS committed to conducting
a thorough investigation to identify the root cause and determine any necessary follow-up actions. The outcome of the upcoming CAA independent review will inform future measures to improve the resilience of the UK air traffic control infrastructure.
The incident underscores persistent vulnerabilities within UK aviation controls, as well as challenges in balancing operational reliability with regulatory accountability.
