Airlines Scramble to Dig Out From Tech Problems that Cancelled 1,750 Flights in UK
Nats ruled out a cyberattack and said a thorough investigation is under way after airlines reported delays for more than 250,000 passengers.
- On Tuesday, a major technical failure in the Nats air traffic control system grounded flights across the UK, causing more than 1,900 cancellations and widespread disruption that persisted into Wednesday.
- This week's outage represents the third major disruption for Nats in three years, reigniting fierce criticism from airline executives who demanded leadership resignations following system collapses in 2023 and 2025.
- Travel expert Simon Calder told the BBC that an estimated 250,000 passengers woke up Wednesday "where they did not intend to be" after roughly 5,800 flights were scheduled for Tuesday.
- Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe apologized Wednesday, promising a "very, very thorough" investigation into the technical failure, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned him to demand formal assurances on system redundancies.
- Operational delays will persist throughout the week as airlines reposition crews and aircraft, with some passengers facing potential waits until the weekend to reach their final destinations.
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British Transport Minister Orders CAA Review Amid Flight Disruption
British transport minister Heidi Alexander has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an independent review into an air traffic control system outage that caused massive flight cancellations. She emphasized that such disruptions should be avoided and aims to ensure reliable air travel for passengers.
The flights delayed or cancelled at Manchester Airport during Nats disruption
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an independent review into the air traffic control problems that caused chaos for passengers at Manchester Airport
Airlines scramble to dig out from tech problems that cancelled 1,750 flights in UK
LONDON (AP) — Airlines scrambled Wednesday to dig out from the backlog triggered by technical problems at Britain’s air traffic control system that has forced the cancellation of more than 1,750 flights. Delays continued for a second day Wednesday, rippling across 15 UK airports and beyond as airlines and airports worked to clear a huge backlog of canceled and delayed flights. The problems stranded passengers for hours on airport runways and in …
The UK government has summoned the CEO of the company that manages air traffic control for questioning after a major system malfunction affected hundreds of thousands of passengers, mirroring a similar incident in 2023.
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