UK Air Traffic Control Glitch Causes Widespread Flight Cancellations and Delays
Scale of Disruption Across Major UK Hubs
The software glitch forced NATS to apply restrictions and delays on departing traffic, which quickly compounded into an extensive backlog as ground space filled up. According to flight-tracking platform FlightAware data cited by Reuters, some 490 departures were delayed at six major airports by mid-afternoon, while roughly 525 arrivals were either cancelled or delayed. Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that at Heathrow Airport alone, 38 out of 661 scheduled arrivals were cancelled or unable to operate, with British Airways bearing the brunt as it cancelled 16 of its 333 scheduled departures. Passengers faced long waits in departure halls, while others found themselves stranded on stationary aircraft. Phil White, a traveller on a flight to Lanzarote, told BBC Your Voice that his plane had boarded on time at Gatwick Airport before sitting on the tarmac for hours. We’ve been told the radar is down and we can’t take off,
Phil said, according to the BBC.
NATS Response and System Recovery Timeline
NATS stated that safety was not compromised during the incident, which affected the system responsible for processing flight plans and operational information used by controllers to maintain an orderly flow of traffic. The provider announced at 1934 BST (1834 GMT) on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, that the technical fault had been resolved and that operations had returned to normal. Recovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped. Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights,
NATS said in a statement posted to X, according to Reuters reporting. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged the lingering effects on the network, writing on X that it will take time to fully resume flights, so continue to check with airlines,
and adding that she was seeking assurances that aviation support systems are robust enough for the job.
Airlines Call for Overhaul and Leadership Accountability
The latest failure drew sharp rebukes from major carriers, echoing frustrations from previous outages. Ryanair reported that more than 65,000 of its customers experienced delays of up to eight hours and that it was forced to cancel over 50 flights. Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon pulled no punches in his public reaction, calling on NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe to resign. How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns?
McMahon said, as reported by Reuters. Wizz Air similarly criticized the infrastructure, declaring that NATS was not fit for purpose in its current form and insisting that passengers, airlines, and airports should not continually bear the consequences of recurring system failures. Aviation analyst John Strickland told Reuters that because European airspace operates on tightly timed schedules, even a relatively short outage causes cascading delays across multiple airports. The UK Civil Aviation Authority stated that it will consider whether regulatory steps are necessary following the incident.