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Air traffic control issue disrupts departing flights at major UK airports
NATS said departures have resumed after engineers fixed the system, but more than 1,300 flights were cancelled and delays are expected to continue.
- On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, a technical fault in the flight-processing system operated by National Air Traffic Services grounded hundreds of flights across the UK, disrupting departures at major hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Birmingham.
- Engineers implemented a fix Tuesday evening to the flight-processing system, and NATS confirmed the system was starting to recover, though clearing the backlog would take time.
- Flight monitoring website Flightradar24 reported around 1,300 flights were cancelled on Tuesday, while some travelers spent more than five hours on taxiways without access to airport gates.
- Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon called for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to resign, citing "repeated mismanagement," while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is scheduled to meet with NATS leadership regarding the Civil Aviation Bill on Wednesday.
- Disruptions persisted into Wednesday, September 9, as airports managed lingering delays; the incident mirrors 2023 failures affecting over 700,000 passengers, raising concerns about Britain's infrastructure resilience.
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UK airports record mass flight cancellations after NATS technical failure
LONDON — More than 1,000 flights were cancelled at airports across the United Kingdom following a technical failure at a NATS air traffic control facility, disrupting flight operations and leaving thousands of passengers affected. Flight tracking platform Flightradar24 reported that about 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday, while a further […]
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources612
Leaning Left77Leaning Right71Center155Last UpdatedBias Distribution51% Center
Bias Distribution
- 51% of the sources are Center
51% Center
L 25%
C 51%
R 24%
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