Air traffic control technical issue grounds flights across UK airports

Got Question about the News? London, Sep 8 (PTI) A 'technical issue" affecting air traffic control grounded hundreds of flights at airports across the UK on Tuesday, including cancellations and delays of long-haul flights to and from India. National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK's leading provider of air traffic control and airspace management, said that it had identified the issue in its flight processing system and implemented a fix. However, the knock-on effect of the delays is expected to last several hours and even spill over into Wednesday. 'We have implemented a fix and our flight system is starting to recover," NATS said in a statement. 'We are continuing to work closely with our airline and airport customers on recovery. We apologise sincerely for the disruption to people's journeys today and they should continue to check with their airline," it stated. Flights at London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted as well as airports further afield in the East Midlands region of England struggled with take-off and landing schedules, with several planes being diverted to alternative airports in Europe. At Heathrow, departures were initially paused and then resumed, before facing further disruption in the afternoon local time when several planes remained grounded for hours. UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was aware of the frustrating situation for passengers. 'Technicians have identified the issue and are fixing it as we speak. I know this will be frustrating for passengers and I'm sorry. Please check with your airline for latest advice," she said. Heathrow Airport issued a statement to say the 'technical issue" was impacting arriving and departing flights across UK airports. 'We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologise to those affected by the disruption and advise passengers to check with their airline for the latest flight information and only travel to the airport if their flight is confirmed," it stated. British Airways said the situation was entirely out of its control and was working to resolve the crisis. Meanwhile, Ryanair called on NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to quit after the system failure which caused widespread delays and cancellations across UK airspace, disrupting over 65,000 Ryanair passengers and cancelling over 50 scheduled flights. 'How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns," questioned Ryanair COO Neal McMahon. 'Over three years after NATS' catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it's clear that nothing has changed, with UK passengers once again suffering avoidable ATC delays of up to eight hours today due to a critical NATS ATC system failing. 'Families travelling on holiday, people travelling for work and thousands of visitors to the UK have once again paid the price for NATS' abhorrent failure," he said. PTI AK RD RD RD A technical issue in the flight processing system of National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK's air traffic control provider, caused widespread flight cancellations and delays across UK airports on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. London's Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted airports were significantly affected, along with airports in the East Midlands region. Heathrow alone saw about 100 flights cancelled and 367 delayed, while Gatwick experienced delays for approximately 250 flights. Ryanair called for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to resign, criticizing the repeated system failures and the disruption caused to over 65,000 Ryanair passengers and 50 cancelled flights. Ryanair's COO Neal McMahon referenced a previous "catastrophic 2023 system meltdown" as evidence that nothing had changed.