Gatwick and Heathrow warn of further delays after NATS air traffic control failure
Key Takeaways
- •Flights restarted at Gatwick and Heathrow, although passengers were warned of continuing delays and longer waiting times.
- •Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled after NATS systems failed on Tuesday.
- •NATS said the fault had been resolved but that restoring normal operations across the aviation network would take time.
- •Ryanair called for government intervention and demanded the removal of NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe.
- •NATS has experienced other major technical disruptions, including incidents in 2023 and the previous year.
Gatwick and Heathrow have warned passengers to expect further delays as airports and airlines work to clear a backlog caused by a failure in the UK’s air traffic control system.
The two London hubs said flights had resumed on Wednesday, but cautioned that passengers could face longer waiting times. Both airports urged travellers to confirm their flight status before setting out.
“Following yesterday’s NATS technical issue, flights are operating today, but some disruption may continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crew,” Heathrow said in a post on X.
“Please check your flight status with your airline before travelling to the airport and only travel if your flight is confirmed to be operating.”
Hundreds of departing flights were delayed or cancelled on Tuesday after NATS, the UK’s air traffic control provider, said its systems had failed. NATS said the problem had been resolved, but acknowledged that recovery had taken “longer than we had hoped”.
“Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today’s disruption. This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover,” NATS said.
Ryanair has called on the UK government to intervene and address what it described as the country’s “chronic” air traffic control problems. Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s chief operations officer, said NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe should be removed and that ministers should “put someone in charge who can do the job”.
Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon calls out NATS CEO Martin Rolfe's incompetence with yet another UK ATC System Failure‼️ pic.twitter.com/zumRFgOw2A — Ryanair (@Ryanair) September 8, 2026
The post is available on X at https://x.com/Ryanair/status/2097361129131352361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw.
NATS has faced several technical problems in recent years. A radar glitch last year grounded flights for several hours at London airports. In 2023, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled after a technical error caused the air traffic control system to crash and enter safe mode during one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Source: https://www.cityam.com/gatwick-and-heathrow-warn-of-delays-after-air-traffic-control-meltdown/
