Passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled because of Tuesday’s air traffic control system failure are unlikely to be entitled to compensation, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has warned. The regulator said the outage was likely to be seen as an “extraordinary circumstance” under passenger rights rules, meaning airlines should look after passengers but are unlikely to have to pay compensation for delays or cancellations directly caused by the incident.
More than 300 flights were cancelled at UK airports today, on top of 1,300 that did not go ahead on Tuesday, although the chaos has eased. Multiple flights remain listed as cancelled, including at Heathrow and Gatwick.
Government backs NATS chief after review announced
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has told the House of Commons she believed the air traffic control “issue” was avoidable. A spokesperson said the Government has confidence in NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe, who has been “tasked with an investigation”.
Alexander apologised to passengers in the Commons, saying: “A four-hour air traffic outage yesterday left hundreds of thousands of passengers facing cancellations, diversions and delays. I would like to apologise wholeheartedly to passengers for this disruption.” She added that she had asked the CAA to conduct an independent review, which will report to her within six months.
Airlines and passengers hit hard
Industry body Airlines UK said more than 330,000 passengers have been impacted, with over 155,000 flights cancelled and more than 180,000 delayed. British Airways cancelled nearly 550 flights, affecting 85,000 customers, and said it had rebooked more than 60,000 customers. Ryanair’s chief operating officer said the airline had cancelled 250 flights, with costs that will “run into the millions”.
Aviation analytics company Cirium said at least 300,000 passengers have been impacted since the outage began, with more than 2,000 flights affected. Flight tracker AirNav Radar reported around 2,000 cancellations over two days.
Airports returning to normal but disruption continues
Heathrow said operations are “recovering” but “knock-on disruption is expected as airlines reposition aircraft and crew”. Gatwick advised passengers to check with airlines, while Stansted, Manchester, Edinburgh and East Midlands reported varying levels of delay. NATS apologised and said it continues to work closely with airlines and airports to support their recovery, with a full investigation to follow.
