Around 2100 flights canceled in Britain; Nats chief given one-week deadline for explanations

A technical failure in the flight processing system of Nats, the company responsible for air traffic control in the United Kingdom, occurred around 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday and paralyzed some of the country’s most important airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Stansted.

According to data from analysts at Cirium, around 2100 flights were canceled at British airports as a result of the incident. On Tuesday, out of 5800 scheduled flights, 1750 were suspended, with 541 of those at Heathrow. On Wednesday, more than 300 flights were canceled due to the disruption’s aftermath.

The Chief Executive of Nats, Martin Rolfe, has been given a one-week deadline to present a detailed report on the fault that caused the chaos in British aviation and led to these massive cancellations.

Rolfe said a thorough investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the failure. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he pledged that “we will carry out a very thorough investigation” and stressed that a cyber attack has been ruled out at this stage.

Nats confirmed that the problem involved its flight processing system, but specified that the actual fault was different from those that caused major disruptions in 2023 and 2025. Normal operations were restored after four hours, but the company described it as a highly complex process and said the aviation network would need time to recover fully.

Ryanair has sharply criticized how the situation was managed. The airline announced that more than 250 of its flights were canceled and that the cost of the disruption will run into the millions. Michael O’Leary, its chief executive, called for the resignation or dismissal of Martin Rolfe, arguing that recurring problems with air traffic control demonstrate a continued system failure.

Yvonne Moynihan, managing director of Wizz Air UK, also urged Rolfe to consider stepping down. She stressed that after three serious incidents, leaders must be held accountable.

The British travel association Abta demanded explanations for what went wrong, stressing that the immediate priority is supporting affected passengers.

British Airways said it was forced to cancel nearly 550 flights, affecting more than 85,000 travelers. Despite the problem being completely beyond its control, the airline apologized for the inconvenience and confirmed it managed to operate about 80% of its usual schedule.

The disruption directly affected London’s main airports and Manchester, where operations were suspended for several hours in the afternoon. At Heathrow, the incident initially affected only departures; but as the airport filled with aircraft waiting to take off, some arriving flights were diverted to other European airports.

Meanwhile, airlines continue to seek accountability, and passengers at some of the country’s largest airports are still facing delays and cancellations.