Flights across parts of the United Kingdom were cancelled or delayed on Monday after a technical failure at NATS’ Prestwick air traffic control centre in Scotland, creating a second major disruption to the country’s air traffic system in less than two weeks.
NATS said the early-morning problem was a connectivity issue affecting part of its systems network in Scotland. Traffic restrictions were introduced while engineers investigated, and the company later said the fault had been fixed and restrictions were being removed.
Scotland and northern UK airports took the brunt of the disruption
The disruption was concentrated on routes serving Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast were among the airports reporting significant effects, while NATS said airports south of Manchester were broadly less affected.
Associated Press, citing aviation analytics firm Cirium, reported that at least 200 flights had been cancelled by Monday afternoon. Reuters reported earlier in the day that Ryanair expected more than 25,000 of its passengers to face delays linked to the incident. EasyJet cancelled some services, while British Airways warned customers that disruption could continue after the technical issue itself had been resolved.
NATS says the fault was separate from the September 8 outage
NATS stressed that Monday’s connectivity failure was unrelated to the software defect that disrupted the UK’s national air traffic system earlier in September. That earlier incident led to the cancellation of roughly 2,000 flights and affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The recurrence has nevertheless intensified scrutiny of the resilience of the UK’s air traffic infrastructure. Airlines including Ryanair and easyJet publicly criticised NATS after Monday’s disruption, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged the frustration facing passengers after two separate incidents in a short period.
What passengers should know
NATS said passengers should continue checking directly with their airlines for the latest flight information because delays can persist even after air traffic restrictions are lifted. Aircraft and crews can be left out of position, meaning disruption may continue through the operating day.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said passengers affected by delays or cancellations directly caused by the air traffic control incident were unlikely to qualify for standard compensation, but airlines still have obligations to provide care and assistance where applicable.
Monday’s incident was caused by a connectivity issue rather than the software defect behind the September 8 failure, according to NATS. The two events are therefore technically separate, even though they have renewed a broader debate over the resilience of Britain’s air traffic control systems.
Sources: NATS (primary source); Reuters; Associated Press.
