UK flights faced fresh disruption on September 21, 2026, due to a technical issue at the nation's air traffic control agency. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) apologized for the latest incident at a centre in Scotland that has since been fixed. NATS said it was working with airports and airlines to minimize any further disruption. This incident follows an outage on September 8 and 9, when a software glitch caused more than 2,000 UK flight cancellations and numerous delays.
The issue at NATS' Prestwick centre in Scotland is unrelated to the issue two weeks ago, according to a NATS spokesperson. Aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that about 200 out of more than 6,000 flights to or from the UK had been cancelled. Cirium noted that this level of cancellations is close to normal, but anticipated that operational performance would degrade quickly as the day progressed. Glasgow and Belfast experienced high cancellations, with about 10 percent of their flights cancelled, while London's airports were spared.
Transport minister Heidi Alexander acknowledged that the new incident would be deeply frustrating for passengers after the previous issue. She referred to the incident as an "IT issue" on social media. Airlines reacted to the disruption, with Irish airline Ryanair calling for the resignation of NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe. Ryanair had over 140 flights delayed, affecting more than 25,000 passengers.
EasyJet was the most affected airline, with 47 cancelled flights according to Cirium. The airline stated that Monday's outage again called into question the resilience of NATS' systems and demonstrated the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures. The travel chaos earlier this month followed a technical glitch in July 2025 that saw scores of flights to and from the UK cancelled.
Britain suffered its worst air systems failure in years in 2023, with more than 700,000 passengers affected after hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled. NATS has operated under a public-private partnership model since 2001, with the government holding a 49-percent stake and a "golden share" enabling it to intervene in strategic decisions.
The remainder of NATS is held primarily by a consortium of airlines. The repeated incidents have raised concerns about the resilience of NATS' systems and the need for improvements. The UK government and airlines are working together to address the issues and prevent future disruptions.
The incidents have also highlighted the need for a more robust air traffic control system in the UK. The government and NATS are working to implement new systems and procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for updates on flight schedules and cancellations.
Key points
- The UK air traffic control agency, NATS, experienced a technical issue, causing flight cancellations and delays.
- The incident is the second such outage in two weeks, following a software glitch on September 8 and 9.
- Airlines, including Ryanair and EasyJet, have reacted to the disruption, calling for improvements to NATS' systems.
