United Kingdom, Scotland: Airlines demand answers after a second NATS technical failure disrupts flights across northern Britain
Airlines have criticised the resilience of the UK’s air traffic control system after a second technical problem within two weeks caused significant disruption to flights across several parts of Britain, renewing pressure on National Air Traffic Services.
EasyJet said the latest incident once again raised questions about the resilience of the service, while Wizz Air described the situation as contributing to what it called a national confidence crisis surrounding NATS, the organisation responsible for managing Britain’s airspace.
The disruption began on Monday 21 September after NATS experienced a technical issue at its Prestwick control centre in Scotland. The organisation said the problem involved connectivity affecting part of its systems network and was specific to Scottish operations.
NATS stressed that the Prestwick incident was unrelated to a separate technical failure earlier in September at its Swanwick centre. That earlier disruption was caused by a software defect affecting part of the National Airspace System and had triggered restrictions across UK airspace.
The latest incident nevertheless had consequences beyond Scotland. Airports across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England experienced disruption as restrictions were introduced to maintain safe traffic levels while engineers investigated the underlying technical problem at Prestwick.
NATS said its engineers had fixed the issue and that operations had returned to full capacity. However, the organisation warned that passengers could continue experiencing delays because of the operational backlog created while restrictions were in place.
The disruption affected airlines and airports at a particularly sensitive time for the aviation industry, as operators attempted to maintain tightly scheduled aircraft rotations. Delays in one part of the network can quickly create further cancellations and missed connections elsewhere.
Aviation analytics company Cirium recorded more than 150 cancellations at UK airports on Monday. The figures included approximately 140 cancelled departures and 137 cancelled arrivals, illustrating the scale of the operational disruption across the network.
EasyJet was among the airlines most affected, with 48 cancellations from 670 scheduled departures, while British Airways recorded 13 cancellations from 513 scheduled departures. The precise impact varied between airlines depending on their routes, aircraft movements and exposure to affected airspace.
The latest technical problem came less than two weeks after another NATS incident on 8 September caused widespread disruption. That earlier event originated from a software defect involving the allocation of aircraft identification codes within the flight data system.
According to NATS’ preliminary report, the September software defect occurred when a manual aircraft code request was interrupted by a higher-priority activity. When processing resumed, the software failed to restart correctly, producing corrupted information that affected subsequent flight data updates.
Because controllers had reduced information available during that incident, restrictions were introduced to protect safety. Although the software problem was concentrated within London’s area control operation, the restrictions extended across Britain while the national system was restarted and flight information reloaded.
NATS said the September disruption lasted around six hours operationally, but its effects continued for more than two days as airlines and airports worked through the resulting backlog. Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected by the earlier incident.
The two incidents have prompted renewed scrutiny of NATS’ ability to maintain reliable services during technical failures. NATS has emphasised that safety remains its primary responsibility and that restrictions are introduced when necessary to ensure aircraft can continue operating safely.
NATS currently manages more than 2.4 million flights through UK airspace each year and handles a substantial proportion of European air traffic. The organisation operates major control centres at Prestwick in Scotland and Swanwick in Hampshire.
The political response has also intensified. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said the recurrence of technical problems was particularly concerning and called for the latest events to be fully investigated before conclusions were drawn about responsibility.
Burnham was asked whether he would seek the removal of NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe. He did not directly endorse such action, instead pointing to the seriousness of the incidents and the need for Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to establish what had happened.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority is already conducting an independent review into the resilience of Britain’s air traffic control system following the earlier September disruption. The regulator has said the review will examine the wider issues and its findings are expected within six months.
The CAA has also addressed the question of passenger compensation following Monday’s incident. It said disruption directly caused by the Prestwick technical problem was likely to qualify as an “extraordinary circumstance” under passenger rights rules.
That classification means affected passengers are unlikely to receive financial compensation for delays or cancellations directly caused by the incident. However, airlines remain responsible for looking after passengers during disruption and must provide assistance according to applicable passenger-rights requirements.
Passengers whose flights are cancelled remain entitled to certain options, including a refund or rerouting under applicable rules. Airlines may also have obligations concerning meals, refreshments and accommodation when passengers are stranded because of significant delays.
The CAA has stressed that its interpretation of extraordinary circumstances is guidance rather than an automatic determination for every individual case. Passenger rights can depend on the specific circumstances, while different rules may apply to certain international journeys and carriers.
NATS has apologised to passengers affected by the Prestwick disruption and said its immediate priority was working with airlines and airports to clear remaining delays. The organisation said customers should continue checking directly with their airlines for the latest flight information.
The latest episode is therefore likely to keep attention focused on the resilience of Britain’s air traffic infrastructure. NATS says it has invested more than £1bn in systems and technology over the past decade and plans further major investment through 2033.
For airlines, however, repeated technical failures have raised practical concerns about the ability of the national system to absorb unexpected problems without generating widespread disruption. The independent CAA review is expected to provide further evidence about vulnerabilities, contingency arrangements and potential improvements.
The immediate Prestwick problem has been resolved, but its consequences have continued through the aviation network. As airlines recover schedules and passengers complete disrupted journeys, attention is now turning towards the investigation and whether additional safeguards are required.
The incidents have also highlighted how dependent modern aviation is on complex digital systems connecting controllers, aircraft, airports and airlines. Even a narrowly contained technical fault can produce restrictions across large areas when safety requires traffic volumes to be reduced.
With the CAA review under way and NATS investigating the latest incident separately, aviation operators and passengers will be watching for evidence about whether the two failures were isolated events or indicate broader resilience challenges within Britain’s air traffic control infrastructure.
This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members