Heathrow and Gatwick delays live: Hundreds more flights cancelled but minister backs air traffic control boss over ‘technical glitch’
Passenger journeys in chaos over ‘technical issue’ hitting hundreds of take-offs
BigThink
Airports have warned of further disruption on Wednesday after more than 1,000 flights to and from the UK were cancelled due to a “technical issue”.
National Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) chief Martin Rolfe was summoned to see Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, after reporting a problem with the organisation’s flight data processing system.
Asked whether Ms Alexander and the prime minister still have confidence in Rolfe, a spokesperson said: “We have confidence in him and he’s been tasked with an investigation.”
Around 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday, according to Flightradar24, with a further 327 cancellations recorded on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of passengers at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick faced travel chaos on Tuesday, with departures severely delayed because planes could not take off safely.
About four hours after the disruption began, Nats said engineers had identified the problem and had fixed it.
However, it was not clear how long it would take for systems to return to normal after the widespread delays and cancellations.
A Nats spokesperson apologised for the delays and advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling to airports.
Scenes at Heathrow airport this afternoon
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 14:07
327 flights are cancelled or did not fly today
So far today, 327 flights have been cancelled or did not fly, according to Cirium, the aviation analytics company.
Cirium added that at least 300,000 passengers would have been impacted, based on a 30 per cent cancellation rate of flights yesterday.
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 14:01
Nats says operations are 'stable' following Tuesday’s incident
Nats, the National Air Traffic Service, said its operations are “stable” following Tuesday’s incident that led to hundreds of flight cancellations.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the air traffic control provider said: “Our operations are stable, and we continue to work closely with airlines and airports to support their recovery from the ongoing disruption to their operations.
“We would also like to reiterate our apology to all those affected – passengers, airlines and airports – by our system issue yesterday.
“While our immediate focus is on safely managing today’s flights, a full investigation will be conducted to establish what happened and identify any further action needed.”
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 13:50
Nats chief still has the confidence of the government, says Downing Street
The chief of Britain’s main air traffic control provider, Martin Rolfe, still has the confidence of the government, Downing Street has said.
Asked about the disruption, the prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “This morning that the transport secretary Heidi Alexander met the chief of National Air Traffic Service (Nats) to raise significant concerns at the scale of disruption on behalf of both passengers and industry.
“She’s asked him to carry out a full investigation into what happened to make sure that lessons are learned.”
Asked whether Ms Alexander and the prime minister still have confidence in the Nats chief, the spokesman said: “We have confidence in him and he’s been tasked with the investigation.”
Sophie Dickinson9 September 2026 13:26
Gatwick Express lines blocked until 1.30pm
A broken-down train between Purley and Gatwick airport means that some Gatwick Express lines are blocked.
“As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes or revised,” said the rail operator, with disruption expected until at least 1.30pm.
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 13:18
What are my rights if my flight is delayed?
For delays of under two hours, you have no rights (unless a short delay in the UK triggers a missed connection and a much later arrival at your final ticketed destination).
For longer delays, the airline should provide refreshments as appropriate after a specified length of time. This applies regardless of the cause of the delay.
The time at which the duty of care kicks in depends on the distance you are flying:
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 13:03
'Martin Rolfe will not last as boss of Nats', says former Virgin Atlantic director
Martin Rolfe, the boss of the air traffic control provider Nats, has been summoned to brief transport secretary Heidi Alexander on what caused the "technical issue" at air traffic control.
It comes three years after a glitch in Nats flight processing system caused major failure. Nats has told The Independent that yesterday's incident was not down to the same issue.
Paul Charles, former director at Virgin Atlantic and now CEO of The PC Agency, told The Independent that Mr Rolfe will likely go over a lack of investment in control systems.
He said: "It is unacceptable for a critical piece of UK national infrastructure to fall over so significantly three times within four years. And for that I think Martin Rolf will not last as CEO."
Alex Ross9 September 2026 12:52
Airport disruption is a sad reflection of the UK, says travel analyst
Speaking to BBC News this morning, travel and tourism advisor Anita Mendiratta said: “Nats and Martin [Rolfe] are going to have to explain what has happened, because it's not only ATC that was impacted; that issue contaminated the entire aviation infrastructure.
“This is a reflection of the UK, and this is where it's quite sad because it really questions if we want to be a global travel and trade hub. How can we do that when it's so easy for one glitch to shut down the system?
“The fear is that we're seeing signs of weakness of the system at the same time that we're wanting airport infrastructure to be growing, but it can't grow if the aircraft are vulnerable to air traffic control challenges that will cause disruptions.”
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 12:45
What caused the air traffic control problem?
The chief executive of air traffic control provider Nats, Martin Rolfe, said the disruption was caused by an issue with Nats’ flight data processing system, adding that it was different from the system that failed during the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2023.
The cause of the fault is currently under investigation.
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 12:25
Ryanair cancelled 260 flights on Tuesday
Ryanair cancelled 260 flights on Tuesday, leading to an immediate loss of £2.5m to £3m ($3.38m – $4.06m), its CEO Michael O'Leary told Reuters on Wednesday, after a major air traffic failure shut down departures across Britain.
“We're looking at probably (losses of) five, six million or something”, O'Leary said, adding that they expected 30 more flights to be cancelled on Wednesday as crews are in the wrong places and working the wrong hours.
Natalie Wilson9 September 2026 12:25
