More than 250 flights were cancelled on 9 September 2026 across major UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Edinburgh due to a software defect in the air traffic control system.
Cause of the Disruption
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK air traffic controller, identified a software glitch in a small subsection of the flight data system as responsible. NATS CEO Martin Rolfe confirmed the issue disrupted operations by triggering backup protocols and requiring manual flight handovers, which reduced system capacity and caused widespread delays and cancellations.
Airlines and Passenger Impact
British Airways cancelled or diverted over 100 flights today, mainly at Heathrow and Gatwick. Ryanair
cancelled more than 50 flights, affecting over 65,000 passengers. Heathrow temporarily suspended arrivals but resumed departures after addressing the fault. Passengers experienced long delays, with reports of extended boarding times and travelers stranded on runways. Arsenal Football Club’s flight was delayed, forcing cancellation of a pre-match press conference in Napoli ahead of their Champions League match.
Official Statements and Industry Reactions
NATS stated on social media that “work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today’s disruption,” acknowledging the complexity of the recovery across the aviation network. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the event as “completely unacceptable” and called for assurances that lessons
will be learned to ensure infrastructure resilience. Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer Neil McMahon demanded NATS CEO Martin Rolfe’s resignation, saying, “Martin Rolfe has run out of excuses. The ‘software ate my homework’ is not an acceptable explanation.” McMahon further urged government intervention to replace leadership capable of managing the system effectively.
Background on UK Air Traffic Control Failures
This disruption follows prior incidents, including an August 2023 failure that cancelled 1,300 flights and cost airlines £100 million. A 2023 outage was linked to duplicated waypoint names causing system fail-safes, while a 2025 radar fault caused 150 cancellations. The repeated technical failures have intensified industry calls for government
action and system upgrades within UK aviation infrastructure.
