Archive · 21 Sep 2026
Fresh NATS Technical Issue Disrupts Flights Across Northern UK
A problem happened at an air traffic control center in Scotland.
This center helps guide airplanes flying over parts of the United Kingdom.
The problem caused delays and some cancellations.
Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England were affected most.
Several airports, including Manchester and Edinburgh, saw major disruption.
Airports south of Manchester, including London airports, were mostly normal.
NATS said the problem was different from an earlier computer issue that canceled more than 2,000 flights.
Airlines said repeated problems show that NATS needs to make its systems more reliable.
A technical issue at NATS’s Prestwick Centre disrupted flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England on Monday.
NATS said the issue was fixed in one account, while another said engineers were still investigating it.
Manchester, Belfast International, Edinburgh and George Best Belfast City airports experienced significant disruption.
Airports south of Manchester, including London airports, were broadly unaffected, though northbound flights and Scottish departures faced delays.
Airlines criticized NATS after the incident, which followed a separate software glitch that canceled more than 2,000 UK flights two weeks earlier.
- Who
- NATS, affected airports and airlines including Ryanair, EasyJet and British Airways; Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander also commented.
- What
- A technical issue at NATS’s Prestwick Centre disrupted and delayed flights, with some cancellations reported.
- When
- Monday; the disruption followed a separate outage two weeks earlier.
- Where
- The issue occurred at NATS’s Prestwick Centre in Scotland and affected flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
- Why
- NATS described a technical issue but did not provide a specific cause in these reports; airlines criticized the resilience of its systems.
NATS and government response
Airline criticism
Handling the latest disruption
NATS and government response
NATS said it was working with airports and airlines to lift air traffic restrictions safely and minimize further disruption. It apologized and said the latest issue was unrelated to the earlier software glitch.
Airline criticism
EasyJet and British Airways criticized the latest fault, while Ryanair called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign and said repeated failures showed inadequate backup systems.
Leadership and system resilience
NATS and government response
NATS and the government focused on managing the disruption; Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she knew the incident would be frustrating after the previous problem.
Airline criticism
Airlines said the repeated incidents called NATS’s system resilience into question and demanded firm action to prevent further failures.
- Control centre
- NATS’s Prestwick Centre in Scotland
- Affected areas
- Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England
- Most disrupted airports
- Manchester, Belfast International, Edinburgh and George Best Belfast City
- Broadly unaffected area
- Airports south of Manchester, including airports in and out of London
- Most affected flights
- Northbound flights and flights departing Scottish airports
- Earlier outage
- A separate software glitch canceled more than 2,000 flights two weeks earlier
- NATS ownership
- The UK government owns 49% of NATS and has a veto over key decisions
