UK flights resume following major NATS air traffic outage

Flights across British airports began restarting early on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, following a major air traffic control failure that grounded more than one thousand flights and stranded hundreds of thousands of travellers. While aviation authorities confirmed the technical fault has been resolved, major hubs and international carriers warned that severe knock-on disruption, rolling cancellations, and lengthy backlogs would persist as aircraft and crew continue to reposition out of place.

The shutdown hit British airports on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, paralysing operations at major hubs such as London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, and Stansted. According to flight monitoring data compiled by Flightradar24, an estimated 1,300 flights were cancelled to and from UK airports during the height of the crisis. Passengers reported scenes of extreme congestion, with terminal queues likened to confinement and travellers spending hours trapped on grounded aircraft before flights were officially scrapped.

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The incident has intensified scrutiny on NATS, the public-private partnership responsible for air traffic control services across 15 UK airports, which counts airlines, pension funds, and the government among its stakeholders. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to explain the system failure. Alexander stated on social media that she was seeking assurances that lessons would be learned and that the technology supporting the aviation sector is fit for purpose. Pressure on Rolfe has mounted sharply from airline executives, with Wizz Air UK managing director Yvonne Moynihan suggesting he should consider his position following past technical meltdowns.

Addressing the public, Rolfe issued an unreserved apology and ruled out malicious intent. We have at this point ruled out cyber, we don’t believe it was a cyber attack, Rolfe told the Bbc's Today programme, adding that the nature of the fault differed from previous incidents in decades of operation. Although NATS announced that the technical issue within its flight processing system was resolved by Tuesday evening, the provider acknowledged that recovery had taken longer than hoped.

The fallout extended far beyond domestic routes, disrupting global transit networks. Major international carriers including Emirates and Qatar Airways issued advisories warning passengers of delays, flight reschedulings, and potential reroutings for flights transiting UK airspace. The disruption also intersected with wider regional pressures, compounding difficulties for passengers navigating international travel corridors.

As airports work through the backlog, transport authorities and airline representatives urge passengers not to travel to airports unless their flight status has been explicitly confirmed by their carrier.