Widespread flight cancellations and delays continued into a second day across the United Kingdom following a major technical failure in the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) system. The disruption, which began Tuesday, impacted air traffic control services for 15 airports nationwide, leading to approximately 1,300 flight cancellations on the first day and hundreds more on the subsequent day.
Airlines are working to manage the fallout, including repositioning aircraft and crew, which is expected to prolong the chaos. Passengers at major hubs such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Stansted have been advised to check their flight status directly with their airline before traveling to the airport.
NATS identified the issue as a problem with its "flight processing system," which has since been resolved. However, the company warned that clearing the backlog of flights would take time. "Recovery from today's system issue has taken longer than we had hoped," NATS stated. "Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights. We are truly sorry for the ongoing flight disruption."
The chief executive of NATS, Martin Rolfe, has ruled out a cyber attack as the cause of the failure and pledged a thorough investigation into the incident. "What I will say is I don't believe we've ever seen an incident happen more than once, so this will be something different that we've never seen in 50 years of operation," Rolfe commented.
Passengers affected by delays of at least three hours are entitled to food and drink from their airline, with vouchers sometimes provided. If a delay extends overnight, airlines are expected to offer accommodation or reimburse reasonable costs. For delays exceeding five hours, passengers have the option to cancel their travel and receive a full refund.
In cases of flight cancellations, airlines are obligated to offer either an alternative flight or a full refund. While passengers might be entitled to compensation for significant delays under UK261 regulations, compensation for cancellations due to this technical issue is unlikely, as it is being considered an "extraordinary circumstance" beyond the airlines' control. Travel insurance policies may cover additional expenses such as accommodation and transport, depending on the specific policy wording.
