Key facts
- Gatwick and Heathrow airports are warning of continued flight delays.
- The disruption follows a technical failure in the UK's air traffic control system operated by NATS.
- NATS has resolved the technical issue, but recovery is ongoing.
- Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed on Wednesday.
- Ryanair has criticized NATS and called for government intervention.
Airports including Gatwick and Heathrow have warned of further delays as they work to clear a backlog of flights following a significant disruption to the UK's air traffic control system. NATS, the provider, confirmed it had resolved a technical issue that caused hundreds of flights to be delayed or cancelled on Wednesday.
Heathrow stated on X that while flights were operating on Wednesday, "some disruption may continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crew." The airport urged passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling.
NATS acknowledged that the recovery process had taken "longer than we had hoped" and that "work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today’s disruption." The company noted that the complex recovery had created difficulties for the entire aviation network.
Ryanair has been highly critical of the situation, with its Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon calling for government intervention to fix "chronic" air traffic control issues. McMahon also suggested that NATS CEO Martin Rolfe should be removed from his position.
NATS has faced previous technical issues, including a radar glitch last year that caused flight groundings at London airports. In 2023, over 1,000 flights were cancelled due to a technical error that caused the system to crash.