Air Traffic Control disruption - ongoing effects today
A technical issue at NATS' Prestwick control centre this morning (Monday 21st September) has caused delays across Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England. NATS says the fault itself has now been fixed, but knock-on delays and some cancellations are likely to continue through the day.
September 21st 2026 – National Air Traffic Services (NATS), which manages air traffic control across the UK, reported a technical issue at its Prestwick centre in Scotland on Monday morning. NATS later described the cause as a connectivity problem affecting part of its systems network specific to the Scottish operation. The fault restricted the amount of traffic controllers could safely handle, leading to delays and some cancellations for flights to and from Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
Airports most affected include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Manchester, Belfast International and Belfast City. Prestwick centre also handles much of the airspace used by transatlantic flights between the UK/northern Europe and North America, so some long-haul routes have seen knock-on delays too. Airports south of Manchester, including London's airports, have been broadly unaffected, though Gatwick and Luton reported some delays around midday, mainly linked to domestic connections to the affected areas.
NATS confirmed the fault itself was fixed by mid-morning and said it is now working with airports and airlines to lift restrictions safely. It has stressed that today's problem is separate from the software issue earlier this month that caused widespread cancellations. Several airlines, including Ryanair and easyJet, have renewed calls for improvements to NATS' system resilience following this second incident within a month, and passengers should expect delays and possible cancellations to continue into the afternoon and evening while the network catches up.
Our advice if your journey may be affected
- Check your flight status directly with your airline before travelling to the airport – this is the fastest way to know if your flight is affected.
- Allow extra time if you do need to travel, as knock-on delays are likely even where departures have resumed.
- Check the flexibility of your bookings:
- Customers with Flextras cancellations can cancel any time up to midnight before the booked day of travel. You'll receive a flexible voucher to rebook once your new travel details are confirmed.
- Flextras: Saver customers can cancel for a voucher to use against the same product once new plans are confirmed.
- Use our online amends system to change dates, times, terminals or cancel your booking if required.
Customers already at the airport or travelling today
If you have an urgent question about a booking today, please contact us via Live Chat.
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