RismadarVoice Reporters
September 9, 2026
More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled across the United Kingdom following a technical failure at a NATS air traffic control facility, disrupting operations and leaving thousands of passengers stranded or facing delays.
Flight-tracking platform Flightradar24 reported that about 1,300 flights to and from UK airports were cancelled on Tuesday, while another 177 cancellations had been recorded by Wednesday, with most involving London Heathrow Airport.
The disruption was linked to a technical problem at NATS’ Shanwick air traffic control facility, which affected the management of flights across UK airspace.
By 1700 UTC, Flightradar24 said 625 cancellations had been recorded as airlines adjusted their schedules in response to the disruption.
EasyJet recorded the highest number of cancellations at 218, followed by British Airways with 132, Ryanair with 41, KLM with 37 and Eurowings with 22.
Earlier in the day, 425 cancellations had been recorded by 1600 UTC, including 137 by easyJet, 111 by British Airways, 26 by KLM, 22 by Eurowings and 21 by Ryanair.
Although NATS systems began returning to normal, airlines continued to make changes to their schedules, resulting in nearly 300 further cancellations during the afternoon.
According to Flightradar24, Eurocontrol listed London Heathrow as unavailable for arrivals between 1400 and 1600 UTC, forcing some inbound aircraft to hold or divert.
Several individual flights were also affected by the disruption.
British Airways flight BA169, travelling from London to Shanghai, reportedly turned back over Romania due to a technical issue before diverting to Cardiff.
American Airlines flight AA142 from New York to London, which had initially planned to divert to Dublin after holding, was later expected to land at Heathrow.
Flightradar24 also reported that Philippine Airlines flight PR116 from Manila to Vancouver stopped transmitting the emergency 7700 transponder code after flying at about 10,000 feet and was expected to divert to Anchorage.
The flight-tracking platform said inbound traffic patterns at London airports, as well as Manchester and Birmingham, were significantly different from the previous week as airlines worked to restore normal operations.
Separately, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released updates concerning a runway overrun involving a 21 Air Boeing 767 in Miami.
Data shared by Flightradar24 showed that the aircraft’s nose gear and right main landing gear touched down at a ground speed of 158 knots, about 30 seconds before the end of the flight data recorder.
The aircraft’s brakes were applied 23 seconds before the end of the recording, when it was travelling at 146 knots. The left main landing gear touched down four seconds later at 134 knots.
Fifteen seconds before the recording ended, the brakes were released at 120 knots,s and the throttles were increased to levels consistent with go-around thrust.
The throttles were subsequently reduced to idle 11 seconds before the end of the recording, while the brakes were reapplied at 117 knots.
Seven seconds before the recording ended, changes were recorded in the aircraft’s lateral, longitudinal and vertical acceleration as its speed dropped to 96 knots.
Flightradar24 said the available data showed no indication that the aircraft’s speedbrakes or thrust reversers had been deployed.
