Britain's air traffic control system experienced a significant technical failure on Tuesday, resulting in the cancellation of more than 1,750 flights and causing widespread travel chaos across the United Kingdom. The disruption continued into Wednesday as airlines worked to rebook stranded passengers and reposition aircraft.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the organization responsible for the U.K.'s air traffic control, stated that the problem stemmed from an issue within its flight processing system, which has since been resolved. The failure impacted operations at 15 U.K. airports, including major hubs like Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as those in Manchester, Birmingham, and Scotland.
Heathrow Airport advised passengers to verify their flight status before traveling to the airport and to only proceed if their flight was confirmed. "We apologize to those affected and have extra colleagues across our terminals to support passengers while we work with NATS and airline partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible," the airport said in a statement.
Budget carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air have been particularly vocal, with Ryanair's chief operating officer calling for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to resign. This incident marks the second major outage in three years for the air traffic control system. Ryanair reported that over 65,000 of its passengers were disrupted, and more than 50 of its flights were canceled. "Over three years after Nats’ catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it’s clear that nothing has changed," a Ryanair spokesperson stated.
EasyJet confirmed that some of its flights were unable to operate and that the system failure led to delays across Europe.
In response to the incident, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Rolfe for a meeting. "I am seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job," Alexander posted on X. Rolfe, while apologizing for the inconvenience, defended the U.K. air traffic control system as one of the safest and most efficient globally. He emphasized that safety is paramount and that the system is only grounded when an issue cannot be quickly resolved.