Dozens of flights cancelled in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England after new air traffic control fault
A technical fault at Nats' Prestwick control centre has caused delays and cancellations affecting Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, with at least 24 flights cancelled so far. British Airways and easyJet are among the airlines reporting disruption.
Flights across parts of the UK have been disrupted after National Air Traffic Services (Nats) suffered its second technical fault in a fortnight. A number of departing and arriving flights at Scottish airports are experiencing severe delays, with the disruption also affecting Northern Ireland and northern England.
The fault occurred at Nats' second control centre, located in Prestwick, Scotland. Airlines including British Airways and easyJet have reported immediate cancellations. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 24 flights have been cancelled across UK airports so far, though many others continue to operate normally.
Second fault in two weeks
The incident comes less than two weeks after a major failure at Nats' control centre in England disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers. It also follows just three days after Nats published an initial report on that earlier incident, in which it pledged to continually improve the critical service it provides.
A Nats spokesperson said engineers are continuing to investigate the issue at the Prestwick centre. Airports south of Manchester are broadly unaffected, while flights heading north and those departing from Scottish airports face some delay. The company advised passengers to check with their airlines and stressed that this incident is unrelated to the one two weeks earlier, apologising for the disruption caused.
An easyJet spokesperson said the repeated Nats system failure raises questions about the resilience of its systems and demonstrates the need for firm action to prevent further breakdowns. A British Airways spokesperson said the airline was disappointed by yet another technical fault, noting it was entirely outside the company's control, while adding that it is doing everything possible to limit the impact on customers and keep them updated.
