UK Flight Chaos: More Than 300 Flights Cancelled After Air Traffic Control System Hit By Technical Glitch

More than 300 flights were cancelled across the UK on Tuesday after a technical problem disrupted the country’s air traffic control system, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. The disruption appeared to affect only departing flights however arriving flights were not impacted. 

The disruption caused significant delays for passengers at major airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick, with departures severely affected. Authorities said the problem was preventing some aircraft from taking off safely.

Britain's National Air Traffic Services said engineers were working urgently to resolve the problem affecting departing flights. In an update, it said it has "implemented a fix and our flight system is starting to recover," while apologising for the disruption.

Flightradar24 said the technical problem affected dozens of flights operated by several airlines, including British Airways, EasyJet, KLM and Lufthansa.

425 flight cancellations as of 1600 UTC to/from UK airports as airlines manage their flying programs for the rest of the day.

easyJet 137
British Airways 111
KLM 26
Eurowings 22
Ryanair 21 https://t.co/1qxnGu1Hft

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 8, 2026

In a post on X, Heathrow Airport wrote, “The air traffic control service is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports. Arriving flights are not currently impacted. We are supporting our local Nats team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

The air traffic control service @NATS is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting arriving and departing flights across UK airports.

We are supporting our local NATS team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

We apologise to those affected by… pic.twitter.com/ji2LyCdL3T

— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) September 8, 2026

“We will provide updated information when we have it. We apologise to those disrupted and advise passengers to check with their airline for latest flight information.”

Airports including Heathrow, Stansted and London City reported disruptions, while airports in Manchester, Birmingham, Scotland and other parts of the UK were also affected. Passengers were advised to check directly with their airlines for the latest information on their flights.

Budget airline EasyJet said some of its flights were “unable to operate” and that the system failure caused “delays to flights across Europe.”

Heathrow Airport's website showed that a number of short-haul flights to European destinations had been cancelled or delayed on Tuesday, adding to travel disruption across the UK.