UK air traffic control failure disrupts hundreds of flights

A technical failure at the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) on Tuesday afternoon, 8 September, caused severe disruption to flights across the country. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, delayed or diverted. Heathrow and Gatwick temporarily stopped both departures and arrivals, with incoming flights suspended until at least 19:00 local time. Stansted, Luton, London City, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast City, Cardiff, Southampton and Southend were also affected.

NATS said the system issue was resolved shortly after 19:30 local time, but knock-on effects continued. Airlines reported significant disruption. British Airways cancelled or diverted more than 100 flights by 18:00. Ryanair reported over 50 cancellations and hundreds of delays. EasyJet cancelled more than 200 flights, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.

The disruption also affected passengers beyond the UK, with knock-on delays across Europe. NATS apologised unreservedly for the ongoing flight disruptions and said it was working to clear the backlog of flights.