Ryanair reveals 1,000 flights cancelled last month amid UK air traffic chaos
The carrier cited two ATC failures, Belgium strikes and Mount Etna ash as it said the disruptions affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
- Ryanair cancelled more than 1,000 flights in September, citing repeated failures in Britain's air traffic control system. The carrier blamed two distinct technical issues within the month for the widespread disruption.
- A major system failure on September 8 grounded more than 1,300 flights across Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted airports alone. A subsequent connectivity issue at the NATS Prestwick centre in Scotland triggered further cancellations later that month.
- Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon labelled NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe an "overpaid failure," demanding his resignation. McMahon blamed the September 8 outage on a "spurious flight plan" that mirrored a 2023 breakdown stranding roughly 700,000 passengers.
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned NATS chairman Sir Warren East for urgent talks in the coming weeks to address the failures. Ministers demanded assurances that air traffic systems are resilient enough to prevent future shutdowns.
- Despite the September disruptions, Ryanair successfully carried 20.1 million passengers across more than 111,700 flights, marking a 4% year-on-year increase. The airline continues operating amid broader industry pressures affecting travel across Europe.
24 Articles
24 Articles
Major budget airline cancels over 1,000 flights amid air traffic control 'collapse' - have you been affected?
Ryanair was forced to scrap more than 1,000 flights last month after what it described as a "collapse" in Britain's air traffic control system. The budget carrier said the cancellations were also driven by air traffic control strikes in Belgium and volcanic ash clouds drifting across Europe from eruptions of Mount Etna in Sicily.Two separate failures in the UK's air traffic control infrastructure struck within just a fortnight of each other duri…
Evening Standard
Ryanair reveals 1,000 flights cancelled last month amid UK air traffic chaos
The carrier flagged disruption from two air traffic control issues last month, as well as ATC strikes in Belgium and Mount Etna eruptions.
Ryanair blames UK air traffic control problems for more than 1,000 flight cancellations in September
Ryanair cancelled more than 1,000 flights in September, according to the airline.Two NATS incidents occurred within a fortnight, disrupting flights across Britainand Ireland.Ryanair carried 20.1 million passengers last month, up 4 per cent year on year.Ryanair has blamed problems with Britain’s air traffic control system for part of the more than 1,000 flights it cancelled in September, as repeated failures at National Air Traffic Services (NATS…
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