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Over 1,000 flights cancelled in UK air traffic glitch: What happened
UK flights cancelled: Over 1,000 of flights were disrupted after a technical issue in the air traffic control system affected departures.
FULL ARTICLE · The Indian Express World
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Sep 9, 2026 09:30 AM IST
Planes are parked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London (AP/ Representational)
Over 1,000 flights in the UK were cancelled on Tuesday due to a technical issue in the air traffic control system, the flight monitoring website Flightradar24 reported. Airports across Britain were witnessing flight delays and cancellations after air traffic control provider NATS experienced a technical glitch.
Air-traffic chiefs said that since planes could not take off safely, departures were severely delayed. Nearly two hours after the air traffic issues persisted across the United Kingdom, the National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) said engineers had identified the problem and had fixed it, The Independent reported. However, it wasn’t clear how much time it would take for the system to return to normal.
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UK Air Travel · Breaking
UK air travel disruption: What went wrong?
A technical fault at NATS, Britain's air-traffic control provider, disrupted departures at major airports on September 8.
~300
flight cancellations reported by Flightradar24 at one point
Developing story — figures are current as of the last update and expected to change.
Departures queuing up across UK airspace
Aircraft queue and stall as NATS restricts throughput to match reduced system capacity — the red marker is the restriction point.
The glitch Airports hit The impact Why it spread What to do
A technical fault, not a safety issue
NATS, the UK's air-traffic control provider, identified a problem in its flight-processing system on the afternoon of September 8. Airspace remained open throughout — but departures were deliberately restricted to match what the system could safely handle.
NATS' own statement: flights were still departing and airspace remained open, "but recovery will take some time."
The biggest airports hit
Departures were disrupted across England and Scotland's busiest hubs:
Heathrow
Gatwick
Stansted
Manchester
Birmingham
Luton
Edinburgh
The immediate impact
Nearly 300 cancellations reported by Flightradar24 at one point, with hundreds more flights delayed.
~100
Heathrow cancellations
367
Heathrow delays
~31%
Of Gatwick's schedule delayed
~300
Total cancellations (Flightradar24)
Why the disruption spread
One system fault, cascading across the network:
ATC processing failure
↓
Departures restricted
↓
Aircraft & crews displaced
↓
Missed connections
↓
Knock-on delays across Europe
What passengers should do
- Check your airline's status page before travelling to the airport.
- Don't assume a delayed flight will operate on its revised time — schedules are being revised repeatedly.
- Expect knock-on disruption even after the system itself is restored.
NATS has said recovery will take time even once flights resume normally.
Source: NATS statements; Associated Press; FlightAware and Flightradar24 data via multiple wire reports, Sept 8, 2026. This is a developing story — cancellation and delay figures were accurate as of the latest update available and are likely to change.
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A NATS spokesperson said, “We apologise for the delay this will cause to journeys. Passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight.”
The air traffic control service @NATS is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting arriving and departing flights across UK airports. We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologise to those affected by… pic.twitter.com/ji2LyCdL3T — Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) September 8, 2026
Heathrow Airport, in a statement earlier, said that it was working with NATS to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and that arriving flights were not currently affected.
In a post on X, Heathrow Airport stated, “The air traffic control service is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports. Arriving flights are not currently impacted. We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We will provide updated information when we have it. We apologise to those disrupted and advise passengers to check with their airline for latest flight information.”
ℹ️ Technical issue We have implemented a fix and our flight system is starting to recover. We are continuing to work closely with our airline and airport customers on recovery. (1/2) https://t.co/MEDLS3UUWT — NATS (@NATS) September 8, 2026
A BBC report stated that Heathrow Airport has apparently run out of space where it couldn’t take any arriving flights because there’s been no departure.
As of 1700 UTC, 625 flights have been canceled at airports in the UK following an earlier technical problem at NATS’ Shanwick ATC facility. easyJet: 218 British Airways: 132 Ryanair 41 KLM 37 Eurowings 22 pic.twitter.com/4hHZYmjFJv — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 8, 2026
At least 1,000 flights to and from UK airports, including London Heathrow, were cancelled, according to Flightradar24.
Airports that have been affected by the air traffic glitch include:
- Heathrow Airport
- Birmingham Airport
- Manchester Airport
- Stansted Airport
- East Midlands Airport
- Jersey Airport
- London City Airport
- London Southend Airport
- Aberdeen Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Southampton Port
- Belfast Airport
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