Airlines fume as UK air traffic control failure disrupts nearly 1,000 flights

A technical failure at the United Kingdom’s air traffic control provider disrupted nearly 1,000 flights on September 8, 2026, triggering widespread delays and cancellations at airports across the country.

The failure prompted Ryanair and Wizz Air to demand changes at National Air Traffic Services (NATS), with Ryanair calling for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to resign and Wizz Air declaring the organization “not fit for purpose.”

NATS said the problem affected its flight-processing system. The organization announced at 13:46 local time that it was investigating the issue, which initially restricted flight departures.

NATS said it implemented a fix at approximately 16:40 and that its systems had begun to recover. However, airlines warned that the disruption would continue as aircraft and crews were left out of position.

“We are continuing to work closely with our airline and airport customers on recovery,” NATS said. “We apologize sincerely for the disruption to people’s journeys today.”

FlightAware data showed that 490 departures from Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Luton, Edinburgh and Bristol had been delayed by mid-afternoon. Another 525 arriving flights at those airports had been delayed or canceled.

Separate data from Flightradar24 showed that at least 625 flights to and from UK airports had been canceled during the day.

Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, London City, Birmingham and several airports in Scotland reported disruptions. The failure also affected flights elsewhere in Europe as airlines held UK-bound aircraft on the ground.

British Airways canceled at least 16 departures from Heathrow, while Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers were affected by delays of up to eight hours. The Irish low-cost carrier also canceled more than 50 flights.

“Following the 2023 collapse, we were told lessons would be learned. We were told resilience would improve. We were told the systems had been fixed. Yet here we are again,” Ryanair Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon said.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said it expects NATS to provide a full report on the incident. The regulator will then determine whether further action is needed to improve the reliability of the country’s air traffic control system.

The failure renewed concerns about the resilience of the UK’s aviation infrastructure. A NATS flight-plan processing failure in August 2023 disrupted thousands of flights and reportedly cost airlines more than £100 million in refunds and compensation. Another technical problem affected flights for more than four hours in July 2025.

The cause of the September 8 failure has not been disclosed.The post Airlines fume as UK air traffic control failure disrupts nearly 1,000 flights appeared first on AeroTime.

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