UK Summons Nats Chief After 1,900 Flight Cancellations as Airlines Demand His Resignation
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 9
UK Summons Nats Chief After 1,900 Flight Cancellations as Airlines Demand His Resignation
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 9
Summary
More than 1,900 flights in and out of UK airports have now been cancelled, prompting Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to summon Nats chief Martin Rolfe for a briefing on Wednesday.
A technical failure in Nats' flight processing system began around 1 p.m. Tuesday, suspending departures for hours at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted and leaving passengers stranded on planes, in terminals and abroad overnight.
Rolfe said Nats had ruled out a cyber-attack and insisted the fault was not the same as the outages in 2023 and 2025, though he promised a full investigation into what he called an unprecedented incident.
Ryanair and Wizz Air challenged that account and urged Rolfe to quit or be removed, with Ryanair saying it had cancelled more than 250 flights, disrupted 65,000 passengers and faced costs running into millions.
Flights resumed on Wednesday at Heathrow and Gatwick, but both airports warned disruption would continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crews after the latest in a string of major Nats failures.