More than 2,000 flights were cancelled across United Kingdom airports on September 8 and 9, 2026, following a technical failure in the NATS air traffic control flight data system. The disruption affected major hubs including London Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Luton, and Edinburgh, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Flight Disruption Timeline and Airline Cancellations
On September 8, 30% of scheduled departures from UK airports were grounded due to the outage. The percentage dropped to 5% on September 9 as partial services resumed, although knock-on delays persisted. British Airways was the most affected airline, cancelling or diverting 100 flights on September 8 and 190 flights on September
9. Ryanair cancelled 260 flights impacting 48,000 passengers, with estimated losses of £3 million resulting from the incident.
Government and Industry Response
The UK government ordered a one-week investigation led by NATS CEO Martin Rolfe following the failure. Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said she did not believe the outage was unavoidable and tasked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) with an independent review, scheduled to report within six months. Alexander stated, “I am clear that passengers should not have to face this disruption.” Airlines UK CEO Tim Alderslade commented that the failure revealed a regulatory gap in the UK aviation system, noting airlines are expected
to absorb disruption costs even when the cause is outside their control.
Cause of Failure and NATS Background
The disruption stemmed from a technical failure in the NATS flight data system on September 8. This marks the second major failure of NATS air traffic control systems in three years, following significant outages in August 2023 and July 2025. The government has ruled out cyberattack as a cause. NATS operates as a public-private partnership partly owned by airlines such as British Airways and easyJet, pension funds, and government entities. Despite ongoing disruptions, NATS paid £175 million in dividends in 2025.
Passenger Impact and Ongoing Disruption
Hundreds of thousands of passengers experienced cancellations
and delays at key UK airports. Airlines are required to provide refunds, rebooking options, meals, accommodation, and reasonable expenses for affected travelers. Disruption continued into September 9 with delayed flight operations caused by aircraft and crew repositioning. Ryanair is pursuing a lawsuit against NATS for over £7 million related to the 2023 outage.
