UK air traffic control failure cancels over 2,000 flights, disruption enters third day
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Neutral summary
A technical failure in the UK's flight data processing system on September 8 grounded departures at Heathrow and Gatwick and led to more than 2,000 flight cancellations over two days, affecting over 330,000 passengers. Flights resumed at Gatwick on Wednesday, but hundreds more services were scrapped and disruption continued into Thursday. The head of NATS, the air traffic control provider, faces calls to resign and has been summoned by the government, while the Civil Aviation Authority said passengers are “unlikely to be entitled to compensation” because the incident may count as “extraordinary circumstances.” Authorities have ruled out a cyberattack, and Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera” suggested an error in a military aircraft's flight plan may have caused the outage.
How it was framed
Outlets: 90. Countries: 29. Facts in the shared core: 5.
Publication timeline
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Daily Express (outlet profile)
Heathrow Airport LIVE: London Heathrow and Gatwick Airports suspend flights. Heathrow and Gatwick have stopped flights.
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Sky News (outlet profile)
Air traffic control issue causing disruption to flight departures. Technical issues are causing disruption to flight departures in the UK this afternoon, according to the leading provider of air traffic control services.
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GB News (outlet profile)
UK airports plunged into chaos as flights across the country including Heathrow and Gatwick grounded. Flights across two of Britain's biggest airports have been grounded following a technical failure in air traffic cont…
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The Mirror (outlet profile)
Heathrow and Gatwick live: Flights grounded at airports with air traffic control delays. Departures at Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been grounded after a technical issue hit air traffic control systems.
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Daily Mail (outlet profile)
Travel chaos as ALL departures at Heathrow and Gatwick are grounded over air traffic control 'technical failure'. All departures at Heathrow and Gatwick have been grounded due to a 'technical failure' with air traffic c…
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The Independent (outlet profile)
Flights grounded at UK airports including Heathrow due to air traffic control glitch. NATS confirmed it is investigating a technical issue
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The Independent (outlet profile)
Travel chaos as departures cancelled at Heathrow and Gatwick airports
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The National (Scotland) (outlet profile)
Scottish flights disrupted as UK air traffic control hit by technical issue. FLIGHTS departing from UK airports have been disrupted after the country’s air traffic control service, Nats, experienced a “technical issue”
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NBC News (outlet profile)
Widespread flight delays hit London airports, including Heathrow. Flights departing from two of London’s Heathrow Airport have been grounded following a “technical issue.”
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La Nación (outlet profile)
Los dos mayores aeropuertos de Londres suspendieron sus vuelos de salida por un fallo técnico. Los aeropuertos de Heathrow y Gatwick indicaron que el trafico aéreo tuvo que ser suspendido momentáneamente
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Belfast Telegraph (outlet profile)
Flights departing UK disrupted by air traffic control ‘technical issue’
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Evening Standard (outlet profile)
Flights departing UK disrupted by air traffic control ‘technical issue’. Heathrow Airport, in west London, confirmed it was one of the airports impacted.
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iNews (outlet profile)
Flights grounded at UK airports because of air traffic control issue. Air traffic control services reported disruptions due to 'technical issues'
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RTÉ News (outlet profile)
Disruption to departing flights at major UK airports. Some departing flights at major British airports have been disrupted this afternoon after air traffic control provider NATS experienced a technical issue.
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RTÉ News (outlet profile)
Number of Irish flights cancelled over UK technical issue. A number of flights departing from and arriving into Irish airports have been cancelled due to air traffic control issues in the UK.
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The Guardian (outlet profile)
Flight delays and disruption across UK after air traffic control technical issue. London airports worst hit with knock-on disruption in Europe as airlines call for overhaul of UK air traffic system Flights around the UK…
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NRK (outlet profile)
Trafikkproblemer ved britiske flyplasser. Problemer hos flygeledersentralen skaper trafikkproblemer både på de tre London-flyplassene og på flyplassen i Manchester. Det melder nyhetsbyrået Reuters. Den første meldingen…
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City AM (outlet profile)
Airport chaos: Heathrow, London City among worst-affected after air traffic control failure. Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports are among the most-impacted after a “technical issue” grounded scores o…
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The Independent (outlet profile)
Heathrow and Gatwick flight cancellations: What are your rights?
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WalesOnline (outlet profile)
15 major airports hit by air traffic control issue with flights grounded. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham are all among the airports impacted by a technical issue to air traffic control systems acros…
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Belfast Telegraph (outlet profile)
Major disruption for Belfast flights due to air traffic control chaos
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Belfast Telegraph (outlet profile)
Flight delay recovery caused by technical issue will ‘take some time’ – Nats
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Evening Standard (outlet profile)
Flight delay recovery caused by technical issue will ‘take some time’ – Nats. Passengers have been advised to check the latest flight information with their airlines.
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ТАСС (outlet profile)
Технический сбой нарушил работу крупнейших аэропортов в Британии. По данным холдинга NATS, проблема возникла в системе обработки рейсов
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La Repubblica (outlet profile)
Traffico aereo in tilt nel Regno Unito: coinvolti anche gli scali di Heathrow e Gatwick. Per un guasto tecnico al sistema di gestione dei voli, si stanno riscontrando diversi disagi negli scali britannici
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Daily Express (outlet profile)
Flights cancelled at 15 major UK airports due to air traffic control glitch - full list. Airports across the UK have had to stop flights.
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Evening Standard (outlet profile)
Heathrow and Gatwick chaos: Full list of cancelled and delayed flights. Check our list of cancelled and delayed flights at Heathrow and Gatwick after air traffic control system failure
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WalesOnline (outlet profile)
Airports plunged into chaos with flights grounded and Cardiff and Bristol affected. Technical issues have grounded planes with hundreds of flights cancelled
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Telegraf (outlet profile)
Potpuno rasulo u Velikoj Britaniji! Samo u utorak otkazano oko 300 letova, otkriven uzrok velikog problema. Gotovo 300 letova otkazano je u utorak širom Velike Britanije zbog tehničkog problema u sistemu kontrole vazduš…
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ТАСС (outlet profile)
Sky News: в Британии из-за технического сбоя отменили сотни рейсов. Неполадки затронули десятки тысяч пассажиров в крупнейших аэропортах Лондона, передает телеканал
Factual core
- A technical issue in the UK's air traffic control system disrupted flights at major airports.
- A technical issue at Nats, the UK air traffic control provider, disrupted flights departing from UK airports on Tuesday.
- More than 400 flights were canceled and delayed across the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
- A technical failure occurred in the NATS air traffic control system in Britain.
- Air traffic in the United Kingdom was disrupted due to a technical failure in the flight management system, affecting airports including Heathrow and Gatwick.
In the daily issue: The day in brief — September 9, 2026