Date: September 21, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
Flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England were disrupted on Monday after a technical problem affected air traffic control operations at the National Air Traffic Services centre in Prestwick, Scotland.
NATS said its engineers were investigating the problem at the Prestwick centre and introduced air traffic restrictions to manage demand and maintain safety. The disruption affected flights heading north as well as departures from Scottish airports, while airports south of Manchester were broadly unaffected.
Edinburgh Airport reported delays linked to the NATS problem and advised passengers to check with their airlines for the latest information. Manchester Airport also experienced delays, while airports in Belfast recorded cancellations and delays affecting flights to destinations including Manchester, Amsterdam, London City, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Belfast International Airport reported delays but had not recorded cancellations at the time of the initial update. East Midlands Airport also experienced some delays, with passengers advised to confirm their flight status before travelling.
The technical problem also affected airlines operating through the affected airspace. Ryanair said it had been notified of an equipment failure affecting airspace over Scotland and northern England, while other carriers including easyJet, British Airways and Loganair also reported disruption.
NATS later said the technical issue had been resolved and that it was working with airports and airlines to restore normal operations. However, delays and cancellations were expected to continue as the effects of the restrictions moved through the aviation network.
The incident occurred less than two weeks after another major technical failure at NATS caused widespread disruption across the United Kingdom. That earlier incident on September 8 resulted in more than 2,000 flight cancellations and affected hundreds of thousands of passengers. NATS stressed that Monday's problem was unrelated to the earlier failure.
NATS said the latest incident involved a connectivity problem affecting part of its systems network at Prestwick, rather than the software defect associated with the September 8 disruption. The organization said engineers were working to restore normal traffic levels while maintaining safety.
The repeated disruptions have prompted renewed criticism from airlines. Ryanair said about 25,000 of its passengers were affected by Monday's disruption and again called for NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe to resign. EasyJet said the latest failure raised questions about the resilience of NATS systems, while other airlines also called for stronger action to prevent further disruptions.
Transport Minister Heidi Alexander described the latest disruption as deeply frustrating for passengers, particularly coming so soon after the earlier nationwide incident. The Civil Aviation Authority said passengers directly affected by the technical failure were unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations, although airlines remained responsible for providing appropriate care to affected travellers.
Passengers travelling through Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England were advised to check directly with their airlines before travelling because delays could continue even after the underlying technical problem had been resolved.
The latest failure has placed further attention on the reliability and resilience of Britain's air traffic control infrastructure as NATS and the government face renewed pressure to prevent repeated technical problems from causing widespread disruption to passengers and airlines.