UK airports hit by air traffic control fault, causing flight cancellations

A technical fault at UK air traffic control provider NATS disrupted flights at major British airports on Tuesday, causing hundreds of cancellations and delays, and renewing scrutiny of the country's aviation infrastructure. The issue, which affected NATS' flight data processing system, was resolved by 1934 BST, with the company stating safety was not compromised. FlightAware data showed nearly 490 departures delayed and 525 arrivals cancelled or delayed across six airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, and Edinburgh, as of 1518 GMT. British Airways was the hardest hit at Heathrow, cancelling 16 of 333 scheduled departures. Ryanair reported over 65,000 passengers affected by delays up to eight hours and called for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe's resignation, while Wizz Air demanded urgent reform. This incident follows a 2023 flight-plan processing failure that cost airlines over £100 million, and a radar-related issue in July last year that disrupted flights for over four hours. The Civil Aviation Authority said it expects a full report from NATS and will consider further steps to ensure reliability.