A second technical problem at Prestwick in Ayrshire has disrupted UK flights, causing delays at airports across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. EasyJet said the incident “once again calls into question the resilience” of how the service works. Wizz Air said there was a “national confidence crisis” in NatS, which runs the UK’s air traffic system.
What Happened This Time
NatS said a “connectivity issue” was to blame. The company said the glitch had “nothing to do” with a software defect at Swanwick, where a similar incident happened last month. As of 13:45 BST, Cirium reported at least 200 flights cancelled or did not fly, including 100 arrivals and 99 departures to/from the UK.
The cancellations hit major airlines hard. EasyJet cancelled 47 of its 670 scheduled departures. British Airways cancelled 11 of its 513. Ryanair’s 140 affected flights impacted 25,000 passengers.
Passenger Reactions
Wizz Air UK’s Yvonne Moynihan called for “urgent reform” of NatS and questioned leadership. Jet2’s Steve Heapy called for “urgent and accountable” action to bolster UK air traffic control. Ryanair reiterated its calls for NatS boss Martin Rolfe to resign, saying he failed to deliver “either a reliable system or an effective back-up”.
Steve Davies, 74, from Birmingham, told the BBC he was “cheesed off with air traffic control”, stuck at the airport after being told to disembark his easyJet flight. Nicole McCloskey, from Kilmarnock, had her family’s flight to Disneyland Paris cancelled. They were rebooked for later Monday.
The Swanwick Precedent
The Swanwick incident last month affected hundreds of thousands of passengers. Some slept on airport floors. Some got stuck overseas. NatS reported the software glitch happened “in the space of a millisecond” producing corrupted data. The company said the underlying issue has been resolved, it is running at “full capacity”, but warned of knock-on effects and residual delays.
Compensation Questions
The UK Civil Aviation Authority said passengers were “unlikely” to get compensation, as the incident is “likely to be considered the result of ‘extraordinary circumstances'”. Airlines UK said passengers and airlines “deserve better” service after “yet another NatS failure”.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 13:45 BST | Cirium reports at least 200 flights cancelled or did not fly |
| Later Monday | Disneyland Paris passengers rebooked |
| Not given | Full compensation unlikely |
The Pattern
The airlines are responding to a second major failure in a short space of time. The pattern includes:
- A technical issue
- Widespread disruption
- Questions about leadership
- A system that delivers neither reliability nor a clear answer
This is not a story about a single bad day. It is a story about a system that fails repeatedly and a regulator that says passengers are unlikely to get any compensation. That is the state of UK air traffic control right now.
Source material: “Airlines criticise air traffic control as second glitch causes more disruption,” the BBC.
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