Air traffic control issue disrupts departing flights at major UK airports
Engineers are working to restore normal operations as around 425 flights were cancelled and departures were delayed at several major airports, Flightradar24 said.
- On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, a technical fault in the National Air Traffic Services flight processing system disrupted departures across 15 UK airports, leaving passengers stranded as airlines faced widespread cancellations.
- Engineers identified the fault and implemented a fix after the afternoon disruption, with NATS stating the system was "starting to recover" while warning that returning to normal operations would "take some time."
- Flightradar24 reported 425 flights cancelled by 5pm, with British Airways diverting or cancelling over 100 flights and EasyJet warning of significant operational strain across Europe.
- Ryanair Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon demanded the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe, citing "repeated mismanagement" and claiming families and visitors "paid the price" for the failure.
- British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is "seeking assurances that lessons will be learned" regarding system reliability, as the Civil Aviation Authority will evaluate infrastructure investments and contingency protocols.
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Travellers in UK face more chaos after air traffic glitch
Travellers in the UK faced more misery on Wednesday with more than 150 flights scrapped across the country, as Britain’s air traffic control service scrambled to recover from a technical glitch that sparked chaos. Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 said 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had already been axed, following 1,300 cancellations to and from UK airports a day before. Nearly all the latest affected flights were at Britain’s busies…
A technical breakdown in the UK continues to cause dozens of flight cancellations on Wednesday, particularly at London Heathrow Airport, with air traffic controllers warning that the return to normal "will take time".
Air traffic control glitch grounds 1,000 flights in UK
Almost 1,100 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday due to what the country's air traffic control service called a technical issue, in the latest glitch to spark travel chaos. A total of 1,055 flights to and from British airports had been axed by 8pm (1900 GMT), according to the aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24. "Recovery from today's system issue has taken longer than we had hoped," Britain's air traffic control servic…
China Daily
The Star Kuala LumpurOver 1,000 flights cancelled in UK due to technical issue
Data analysis from Flightradar24 shows that more than 1,000 flights have been cancelled at airports across the UK.
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