On 21 September 2026, a connectivity fault at Nats' Prestwick air traffic control centre in Scotland caused widespread delays and cancellations across UK airports, marking the second major Nats disruption in two weeks. Nats said the problem was unrelated to an 8 September software defect that previously led to about 2,000 cancellations and reported the system was later fixed and running at full capacity. Aviation analytics firm Cirium recorded roughly 200 flights cancelled or not flown (about 100 arrivals and 99 departures), with easyJet among the worst affected. Passengers reported ruined holidays, missed job start dates and long waits at airports including Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, Edinburgh and Derry. The UK Civil Aviation Authority advised that the incident would likely be treated as "extraordinary circumstances," meaning most travellers are unlikely to receive compensation, although airlines must look after passengers on the day.
The recurrence of major outages prompted sharp industry criticism and calls for accountability and reform. Wizz Air warned of a "confidence crisis" and urged urgent structural changes and board scrutiny; Ryanair demanded the resignation of Nats chief Martin Rolfe; Jet2 and easyJet pressed for stronger resilience measures; travel agents’ body Abta and others asked the government to consider financial remedies for wider industry losses. Nats and airlines are now focused on recovering residual delays while scrutiny mounts over whether systemic changes are needed to prevent further failures.
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