UK: Nats Flight Data System Fault Disrupts Flights at Major AirportsYour support helps us to tell the story
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Tens of thousands of passengers plunged into travel chaos this week are unlikely to get compensation, the regulator has warned.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is conducting an independent review, has told those impacted that the “disruption caused by the Nats outage is likely to be considered the result of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under passenger rights rules”.
This means passengers are “unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident,” it said.
Airports have warned of further disruption on Wednesday after more than 2,000 flights to and from the UK were cancelled or delayed due to a “technical issue”.
National Air Traffic Control Service (Nats) chief Martin Rolfe was summoned at lunchtime to see Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, after reporting a problem with the organisation’s flight data processing system.
Asked whether Ms Alexander and the prime minister still have confidence in Rolfe, a spokesperson said: “We have confidence in him and he’s been tasked with an investigation.”
Around 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday, according to Flightradar24, with a further 347 cancellations recorded on Wednesday.
Have you been affected by airport delays? Get in touch by emailing sophie.dickinson@independent.co.uk
‘Fraudsters tried to sell me fake BA flights’, stranded passengers say
Holidaymakers Geoff and Janina McBride are warning people about a scam that NatWest fortunately rescued them from.
The McBrides, from Hampshire, were trying to travel to Lisbon and then on to the Azores to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary – but their flight was cancelled.
Former government nanotechnology scientist Mr McBride, 63, told PA they called a phone number on what they thought was the official BA website.
A fraudster pretending to work for the airline tried to offer them alternative flights from London City, Gatwick or Heathrow airports and via Munich.
The false flights were about £600 each, but the payments to him were not going through.
His wife, 64, called NatWest to ask why and they told her “get off the phone to them immediately”, Mr McBride said.
His card was blocked and the payments cancelled, he added, telling PA: “What do you do when you’re in a drama?
“I’m very well-versed in cybersecurity, but it’s that one click, isn’t it?
“And it looked legitimate, proper, he sounded proper, he was going through all the different flights, had all the details, so he can pull that off the internet and speak to me down the phone, credit card details – so I was lucky, very lucky.”
Mr McBride added: “We were in a panic – that’s when they get you.”
(PA)
Harriette Boucher10 September 2026 05:00
In depth: Inside the IT ‘glitch’ that triggered UK flight chaos – and the warnings issued three years ago
As airport passengers began seeing flights delayed on departure boards at Heathrow and Gatwick, National Air Traffic Services (Nats), the UK’s air traffic control provider, issued an alert over a “technical issue” causing disruption.
An hour and a half later, amid heightened chaos that had spread to other major airports across the country, the public-private partnership body sent out an update, explaining that the issue in “our flight processing system” had been identified. Some 75 minutes later it said had been fixed and systems were recovering – but with a warning that the disruption could last days.
Such a recovery took longer than hoped, conceded Nats in a further statement at 7.30pm, as the increasingly under-fire body offered an unreserved apology to the growing thousands of passengers stranded at airports, including Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester.
To the hardened airline traveller, it brought, perhaps, a sense of déjà vu.
Harriette Boucher10 September 2026 04:00
Ryanair repeats calls for ‘overpaid failing’ air traffic boss to be sacked
Ryanair has taken another jab at the ‘overpaid failing” boss of Nats, repeating calls for him to sacked after yesterday’s technical glitch.
Chief operating officer Neal McMahon said: “The last thing UK passengers and airlines need after yet another NATS system collapse is another ‘review’ or ‘report’.
“Asking failed CEO Martin Rolfe to conduct this report is similar to asking a failed student to mark his own exam paper!”
He added: “Martin Rolfe, after the Aug 2023 NATS system collapse promised Parliament that this wouldn’t happen again, and that an effective back-up system would be introduced. UK passengers learned yesterday that these assurances were worthless. The NATS ATC system collapsed again, and yet again, there was no back-up system.
“Martin Rolfe, the overpaid failing CEO cannot be trusted to report on his own failings. He should be sacked and replaced with someone competent to run the UK ATC system and to prevent repeated collapses of UK ATC and it’s non-existent back-up systems.”
Harriette Boucher10 September 2026 03:00
ICYMI: ‘Martin Rolfe will not last as boss of Nats’, says former Virgin Atlantic director
Martin Rolfe, the boss of the air traffic control provider Nats, has been summoned to brief transport secretary Heidi Alexander on what caused the “technical issue” at air traffic control.
It comes three years after a glitch in Nats flight processing system caused major failure. Nats has told The Independent that yesterday’s incident was not down to the same issue.
Paul Charles, former director at Virgin Atlantic and now CEO of The PC Agency, told The Independent that Mr Rolfe will likely go over a lack of investment in control systems.
He said: “It is unacceptable for a critical piece of UK national infrastructure to fall over so significantly three times within four years. And for that I think Martin Rolf will not last as CEO.”
Alex Ross10 September 2026 02:00
Comment: What does Britain’s failing air traffic control boss have to do to get fired?
NATS boss Martin Rolfe has the prime minister’s full support – but after the third major technical failure in as many years, grounding hundreds of flights and cost the British economy millions, it’s high time he was replaced, says James Moore
Harriette Boucher10 September 2026 01:00
In pictures: Hundreds of flights cancelled on Wednesday as disruption continued across UK
(Getty)
(Getty)
(Getty)
Harriette Boucher10 September 2026 00:00
400 UK flights cancelled on Wednesday
Some 399 flights in and out of the UK were cancelled on Wednesday, the latest data has shown.
According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 7 per cent of all flights failed to take off today.
There were 209 flights arriving or departing Heathrow that were cancelled, 23 to Manchester, and 18 to Gatwick.
The worst affected airlines were British Airways, which had 88 flights cancelled, and easyJet which had 31.
Cirium said interruption was slowing down on Wednesday evening, with no cancellations currently expected tomorrow.
Harriette Boucher9 September 2026 23:15
Editorial: Britain’s crumbling vital infrastructure cannot be allowed to fail
The latest ‘technical glitch’ to cause widespread chaos at Britain’s airports must not be allowed to happen yet again. But preventing it will mean confronting the awesome challenge – and cost – of modernising air traffic control
Harriette Boucher9 September 2026 22:30
Ryanair repeats calls for ‘overpaid failing’ air traffic boss to be sacked
Ryanair has taken another jab at the ‘overpaid failing” boss of Nats, repeating calls for him to sacked after yesterday’s technical glitch.
Chief operating officer Neal McMahon said: “The last thing UK passengers and airlines need after yet another NATS system collapse is another ‘review’ or ‘report’.
“Asking failed CEO Martin Rolfe to conduct this report is similar to asking a failed student to mark his own exam paper!”
He added: “Martin Rolfe, after the Aug 2023 NATS system collapse promised Parliament that this wouldn’t happen again, and that an effective back-up system would be introduced. UK passengers learned yesterday that these assurances were worthless. The NATS ATC system collapsed again, and yet again, there was no back-up system.
“Martin Rolfe, the overpaid failing CEO cannot be trusted to report on his own failings. He should be sacked and replaced with someone competent to run the UK ATC system and to prevent repeated collapses of UK ATC and it’s non-existent back-up systems.”
Harriette Boucher9 September 2026 21:45
In the UK and Europe, what can I expect if my flight is delayed?
For delays of under two hours, you have no rights (unless a short delay in the UK triggers a missed connection and much later arrival at your final ticketed destination – see below).
For longer delays, the airline should provide refreshments as appropriate after a specified length of time. This applies regardless of the cause of the delay.
The time at which the duty of care kicks in depends on the distance you are flying:
Short flights (up to 1,500km): refreshments after two hours Mid-haul journeys (1,500 to 3,500km): three hours Longer trips: four hours
Note that if the airline believes providing the care would further delay the flight, it need not deliver.
If the delay extends overnight, the airline is obliged to find and pay for a hotel room. In practice, carriers often say, “too difficult”, and invite the passenger to book their own and reclaim later.
While this attitude does not comply fully with the rules, aviation authorities tend to turn a blind eye to it.
The duty of care applies regardless of the cause of a delay or cancellation.
Harriette Boucher9 September 2026 21:06