More than 270 flights have already been cancelled on Wednesday, with experts warning the "knock-on" effect of yesterday's air traffic control outage will still be felt today. According to FlightRadar, 246 flights had been cancelled at Heathrow Airport by 6am on Wednesday, while Gatwick passengers have faced 33 cancellations.
It comes after more than 1,000 flights to and from at least 16 UK airports were impacted on Tuesday due to a major technical problem that hit air traffic control systems. Tens of thousands of holidaymakers were left stranded for hours, with distressed passengers reporting being left waiting on runways.
Airports hit by the disruption included Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City, London Southend, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Liverpool John Lennon, Aberdeen, Belfast, EMA, Southampton, Leeds and Jersey.
Nats boss apologises and investigation promised
Nats CEO Martin Rolfe apologised, telling the BBC there would be a full investigation into what had gone wrong, after Nats said resolving the issue had taken "longer than hoped". Travel journalist Simon Calder warned the knock-on effects on Wednesday were "going to be horrible".
Heathrow Airport has released an update as flights are set to operate today. However, the airport warns of further disruption. The statement says: "Following yesterday's NATS technical issue, flights are operating today, but some disruption may continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crew. Please check your flight status with your airline before travelling to the airport and only travel if your flight is confirmed to be operating. We apologise to those affected and have extra colleagues across our terminals to support passengers while we work with NATS and airline partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible."
Passengers describe chaos and delays
Passengers on a British Airways flight that had been due to fly to Baltimore disembarked after four hours on the ground at Heathrow. During the long delay, flight attendants served pasta and chicken curry while patient passengers watched movies or strolled up and down the aisles.
Among the thousands facing disruption on Tuesday was Josie Donoghue, who had to get off her flight to Ireland after spending three hours on the runway at Gatwick. Ms Donoghue said: "Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz. We were trapped in there. We were told we couldn't get out until the flights were cancelled, and then eventually they allowed us to get out. It's just an absolute nightmare down there, it's the only word I can use to describe it."
Passenger Julia Pobegailova said she waited on a plane for three hours before her flight was cancelled at Gatwick Airport. The 29-year-old was due to fly to Tel Aviv at around 1.30pm but said that after boarding the Wizz Air flight she sat on the runway for several hours before being informed it would not fly. Ms Pobegailova said that Wizz Air's next flight to Tel Aviv isn't until Saturday. "I'm just trying not to panic," she added. "I'm trying to figure out what to do and find a solution. There's always a way, so it's fine."
Airlines and airports report impact
Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been disrupted as a result of the issue and it had cancelled more than 50 scheduled flights. Ryanair COO called on Nats boss Martin Rolfe to resign amid air traffic control chaos. Mr McMahon said: "How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns? Over three years after NATS' catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it's clear that nothing has changed, with UK passengers once again suffering avoidable ATC delays of up to 8 hours today due a critical NATS ATC system failing. Families travelling on holiday, people travelling for work and thousands of visitors to the UK have once again paid the price for NATS' abhorrent failure."
Luton Airport confirmed early on Wednesday the airport was "open and operational", but said: "Some flights may still be subject to disruption and passengers are advised to check their flight status directly before travelling to the airport." Manchester Airport says it expects flight disruption to continue "for the rest of the day" following the air traffic control glitch. In a post on X, the airport said: "Following today's Nats air traffic control issue, flight disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day while airlines recover their schedules. Before travelling to the airport, please check your flight status directly with your airline. Only travel to the airport if your airline has confirmed that your flight is operating. We'll share further updates when available. Thank you for your patience."
Nats, which provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports, stated: "Recovery from today's system issue has taken longer than we had hoped. Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights. We are truly sorry for the ongoing flight disruption. We know this is hugely frustrating and apologise unreservedly. Passengers should continue to check with their airline."
