The head of the UK's air traffic control company is facing calls to resign after a second technical disruption in two years caused flight delays across the country. The system operated by Nats went down for about 20 minutes on Wednesday, leading to hundreds of flight delays and restrictions at Heathrow Airport.
British Airways was forced to limit inbound and outbound flights at Heathrow to 32 per hour until 7.15pm, down from the usual 45. The National Cyber Security Centre said it does not believe the incident was caused by hacking.
Ryanair called for Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign or be fired. The airline's chief operating officer, Neal McMahon, said: 'It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.' He added that if Rolfe did not resign, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander 'must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform'.
Nats engineers restored the affected system by around 5pm, but warned of continued disruption. The technical issue, which occurred at the Swanwick control centre in Hampshire, restricted the number of aircraft that could fly in England and Wales. Liverpool John Lennon Airport said remaining flights that evening could face delays.
The disruption revived memories of August 2023, when a Nats technical glitch grounded flights and affected more than 700,000 passengers. Alexander said she had been informed systems were restored but passengers should check with airlines for updates. A Department for Transport spokesperson said the department was working with Nats to understand the cause.
