Politics
UK air traffic control failure cancels 2,000 flights amid government probes
September 9, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Coverage
3 reports · over 2 hours
TGThe Guardian
‘Baggage reclaim was pandemonium’: passengers hit by airport IT chaos in UK recount their ordeals
(opens the publisher’s site)
BNBBC News
'It's been a nightmare': Passengers face airport chaos after UK air traffic issue
(opens the publisher’s site)
BNBBC News
Air traffic failure was avoidable, says transport secretary
(opens the publisher’s site)More than 2,000 flights were cancelled after NATS' air traffic control system failed for four hours, prompting government investigations into the outage.
- NATS' flight processing system failed for four hours on Tuesday, causing more than 2,000 flight cancellations, the provider's third major technical fault in three years.
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the failure was avoidable and a cyberattack could be ruled out, ordering the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an independent review.
- Alexander gave NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe one week to report on the cause of the technical failure at the Swanwick Centre.
- The CAA said passengers are likely ineligible for compensation because the disruption qualifies as "extraordinary circumstances."