A technical fault in air traffic control systems has caused widespread disruptions at major UK airports, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and flights cancelled.
NATS engineers suffered a technical fault in the flight processing system on a weekday that reduced UK air traffic handling capacity, grounding and cancelling flights at major hubs including EdinburghGlasgowHeathrowGatwickManchester and Birmingham. The disruption unfolded on the day of the outage and left passengers across the network facing long delays and cancellations, with knock-on effects to services to destinations such as Paris and other European cities.
Ultimo aggiornamento: 10 September 2026.
Why the outage mattered and immediate impact
The fault affected a core element of the air traffic control infrastructure that provides controllers with trajectory and flight data, significantly reducing throughput across the UK network and creating a backlog of flights across Europe.
The disruption affected services at the 15 airports covered by NATS and forced airlines to cancel routes, with some passengers remaining on board and others left seeking accommodation after overnight cancellations. Passenger accounts included Emma Chun, who was stranded on a British Airways flight to New York and described being served meals on the tarmac, and Charlotte Simpson, whose flight to Bari for a wedding was cancelled with limited rebooking options available.
The Civil Aviation Authority warned about compensation limits, stating: “Although passengers should be looked after by airlines, they are unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident.”
Geographic spread and airport-level effects
At Edinburgh several flights were cancelled including services to Paris Southampton, Prague, Barcelona, Nice and Heathrow while Glasgow experienced cancellations on routes to Amsterdam, London, Paris and other destinations. At Heathrow the backlog reached a point where the airport temporarily could not accept more arrivals, producing an unusually quiet arrival schedule and an operational focus on clearing departing aircraft first. GatwickManchester and Birmingham also reported waves of cancellations and delayed departures as NATS implemented phased trial releases of aircraft to restore safe flow. Grounded flights resulted in some passengers being served on-tarmac meals and airport staff providing basic amenities while airlines handled rebooking and accommodation.
Organizational and political repercussions
The outage intensified scrutiny of NATS leadership and operational resilience after multiple significant incidents in recent years, prompting public comments from airline executives and government officials. Ryanair reported large numbers of affected passengers, and British Airways recorded numerous cancellations and diversions. Neil McMahon, the Chief Operating Officer of Ryanair, criticised the management record, and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander arranged to speak with NATS leadership ahead of parliamentary proceedings linked to aviation legislation. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband indicated the Transport Secretary would demand an explanation and stressed the need to restore normal airport operations. NATS apologised for the disruption, said engineers worked to implement a fix and cautioned that recovery would take hours due to the displaced aircraft and schedule build-up.
Recovery efforts continued with NATS releasing small numbers of aircraft in controlled trials at affected airports as teams rebuilt capacity and attempted to reduce the backlog. Airlines advised passengers to check flight status directly with carriers as rebooking and accommodation arrangements progressed. The incident has reignited debate over system redundancy and oversight for the national air traffic service provider as authorities and industry stakeholders monitor the operational recovery.
