An air traffic control problem across the UK system resulted in over 2,000 flight cancellations, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
Martin Rolfe, head of ATC provider NATS, said that fixing the glitch took ‘longer than hoped’. 1,750 flights were cancelled on Tuesday 8th September alone, with London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, and Birmingham airports the worst affected.
The British Government’s Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is set to tell parliament that a cyber attack was not the reason for the fault. NATS has faced issues of this scale before: an unexpected computer shutdown in August 2023 disrupted nearly 700,000 passengers.
Ryanair and Wizz Air have both demanded reform of NATS in the wake of this latest error. Wizz even argued Rolfe should resign from the leadership, to which Rolfe responded:
Not to take away any of the frustrations and disappointment from people who haven’t been able to travel, but we do have one of the best systems and one of the best services in the world and that’s consistently recognised globally.
Reliable air traffic control is critical to the smooth running of aviation operations, especially at a congested airport like London Heathrow. Heathrow has only two runways yet is still one of the world’s busiest airports, managing more than 1,300 arrivals and departures every day. Even a small delay at this megahub can have significant repercussions on air travel across the UK and the beyond.
Airlines will not have to compensate passengers for any delays or cancellations as responsibility for the disruption rests on NATS. However, they will still have to spend significantly to support passengers through the provision of food, drink, and hotel stays.
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