This morning, flights were disrupted across Scotland and northern England due to a technical issue at an air traffic control center operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in Prestwick. Airlines including Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways, and Highlands and Islands Airports Limited reported delays or cancellations, advising passengers to check with their airlines for updates. The incident is separate from a similar disruption that occurred two weeks ago, which led to over 2,000 flight cancellations at major airports like Heathrow and Gatwick.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Monday, Nats, Britain's air traffic control provider, faced renewed criticism after a "connectivity issue" at its Prestwick center in Scotland caused delays and disruptions to flights across Scotland and northern England. This incident is the second major disruption within two weeks, following a software fault on September 8 that canceled over 2,000 flights and affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Ryanair estimated that more than 25,000 of its passengers were impacted by Monday's delays, with around 140 flights delayed. The company's chief operations officer, Neal McMahon, called for the resignation of Nats CEO Martin Rolfe, accusing him of presiding over repeated system failures and passenger disruption.
EasyJet also criticized the resilience of Nats' systems, stating that the latest incident "calls into question" their reliability. Meanwhile, Airlines UK CEO Tim Alderslade emphasized the need for ATC infrastructure to be resilient enough to keep people moving, calling the recent failure a significant issue affecting both passengers and airlines.
Despite growing calls for Rolfe's resignation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not publicly back Rolfe but stated that it was initially up to the Transport Secretary to investigate the cause of these recurring issues.
Written for “Air Traffic Control Issues” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.
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Flights were disrupted across Scotland and northern England this morning because of a 'technical issue' at an air traffic control centre.
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Flights → see → centre
A National Air Traffic Services (NATS) spokesman said: 'Our engineers are continuing to investigate the issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland.
'
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engineers → say → Scotland
Airports south of Manchester are broadly unaffected, however flights heading north and flights departing Scottish airports are currently subject to some delay.
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flights → head → delay
'Passengers should check with their airlines.
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Passengers → check → airlines
We apologise for the disruption.'
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We → apologise → disruption
A Ryanair statement said there were 'delays to/from the UK' today 'due to yet another NATS Air Traffic Control IT equipment failure'.
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statement → say → failure
The airline added: 'We have been advised of a NATS air traffic control equipment failure today affecting the airspace above Scotland/Northern England.
'
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We → add → Scotland
As a result, we expect some delays to flights to/from the UK and Ireland.
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we → expect → UK
Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling to/from the UK and Ireland on Mon 21 Sep should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.'
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passengers → notify → flight
An easyJet spokesman said: 'A Nats Air Traffic Control system failure in its Prestwick Centre is causing delays to flights with some unable to operate.
'
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failure → say → some
This, once again, calls into question the resilience of Nats' systems and demonstrates the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures.'
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This → call → failures
And a British Airways spokesman said: 'Yet another technical fault with NATS means some of our customers are likely to experience disruption to their travel plans today.
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some → say → plans
This is disappointing, and whilst it is an issue that is entirely out of our control, we're doing everything we can to limit the impact on customers and are keeping them updated.'
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we → do → them
A London City Airport spokesman said: 'We are experiencing some disruption due to an issue at NATS Prestwick.
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We → say → Prestwick
We are monitoring the situation closely and working with NATS as they resolve the issue.
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they → monitor → issue
'If you're travelling today, please check with your airline for the latest information on your flight.
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you → travel → flight
Our friendly LCY colleagues are in the terminal today as usual to help your journey run smoothly.'
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited warned flights were being impacted across all the airports the company operates - including Dundee, Inverness and Islay.
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company → help → Dundee
It said: 'Due to a technical issue at Prestwick, flight schedules are currently being impacted across all our airports.
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schedules → say → airports
It comes two weeks after an air traffic control issue on September 8 led to more than 2,000 flights being cancelled at airports including London Heathrow and Gatwick.
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flights → come → Heathrow
Passengers wait to take off on an easyJet flight this morning as services are delayed again
A preliminary investigation by NATS found this was caused by a fault in the software that allocates codes to individual aircraft – and not by 'any incorrect actions'.
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that → wait → actions
The fault caused flights both in and out of the UK to be axed - impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers with disruption continuing into the following day.
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disruption → cause → day
Under-fire Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe faced calls to resign and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the disruption was 'completely unacceptable'.
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disruption → face → calls
Last July, a 'radar-related issue' caused an air traffic control failure which disrupted thousands of passengers and forced the cancellation of more than 160 flights.
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which → relate → flights
In August 2023, more than 700,000 passengers suffered disruption when flights were grounded at UK airports due to a NATS technical glitch while processing a flight plan.
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flights → suffer → plan
The Aporia
