Traffic control systems restored, but continued disruption expected, UK transport secretary says
UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander says in a post on X that she believes the traffic control systems “have now been restored,” although she warns about “continued disruption … expected.”
“I am aware of a technical issue which impacted @NATS operations causing travel disruption this afternoon.
I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.”
Key events
Matthew Weaver
The head of the UK’s air traffic control company is facing calls to resign after the second disruption to flights in two years due to technical problems.
Hundreds of flights were delayed after the air traffic control (ATC) system went down for about 20 minutes on Wednesday.
Nats, the company that runs the system, blamed a technical problem and said it had now been resolved. The problems raised fears of a repeat of chaos at airports in August 2023 when hundreds of thousands of passengers’ flights were delayed or cancelled.
British Airways said it was forced to restrict the number of its inbound and outbound flights at Heathrow to 32 an hour until 7.15pm. It said the flow rate would then return to the usual level of 45 an hour.
It is understood that the UK National Cyber Security Centre does not view it as a hacking incident.
Ryanair called for the Nats chief executive, Martin Rolfe, to resign or be fired. The airline’s chief operating officer, Neal McMahon, said: “It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.
“Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace meaning thousands of passengers’ travel plans have been disrupted. It is clear that no lessons have been learned since the August 2023 Nats system outage, and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe’s incompetence.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “While passengers should continue to check with individual airports for advice, Nats have confirmed their systems are now fully operational and flights are returning to normal.
“We are working closely with Nats to understand the cause of the technical issue and the implications for the resilience systems in place.”
The department noted the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, does not have any direct control over Nats and has no powers on staffing decisions.
Wednesday’s air traffic control technical fault came as many thousands of families prepared to head off on their summer holiday, writes Rupert Jones and Zoe Wood.
Those whose flights have been disrupted have significant rights and entitlements in relation to everything from refreshments to refunds.
John Carr, whose plane was cancelled from Heathrow Airport, said he was worried he would miss his brother’s wedding.
Carr, a chiropodist from Stourbridge, was on his way to Norway with a group of friends to help setup his brother’s wedding, for which he is best man, when he found out after checking in his flight was cancelled.
The 35-year-old told the PA news agency from outside Terminal 3: “I’m pretty gutted. We’ve got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we’re obviously flying to Norway. We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful.”
His friend James Hedges, also from Stourbridge, added: “We found out today; we’d already checked in and gone through the security checks.
“We were in the departures lounge, and we were literally sitting down having a burger when it came up on the (screen). Our flight was still showing as if it was leaving, and they were waiting to give us a gate and that that would be given at 4.45pm. When that time came around, it then switched to cancelled.”
Daniel McAfee, head of legal operations at Lawhive, has shared advice on the actions that affected passengers can take.
“Under UK and EU regulations (UK Regulation 261/2004), airlines are generally not obligated to pay compensation for cancellations or delays caused by extraordinary circumstances. Air traffic control issues fall under this category, meaning passengers are not entitled to compensation for the inconvenience.
“Even though compensation may not be available, passengers still have rights. If your flight is cancelled due to ATC problems, the airline must offer you a full refund or an alternative flight to your destination at the earliest opportunity. You may also choose to rebook the flight for a later date, if this is more convenient for you.”
McAfee added: “Additionally, airlines are still required to provide care and assistance during delays, even those caused by ATC issues. This includes meals and refreshments (proportional to the waiting time), accommodation and transport to and from the hotel (if an overnight stay becomes necessary), and communication (the airline must cover the cost of two phone calls, faxes, or emails to help you make any necessary arrangements).”
Junade Ali, a fellow at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said: “Nats has previously thoroughly investigated such incidents and implemented suitable measures.
“From prior incident reports, the software is understood to not compromise safety at the expense of keeping airspace open.
“This is the right approach as, whilst keeping airspace open is important, the public risk appetite demands a high standard of safety when it comes to air travel.”
At least 45 flights have been cancelled across all UK airports as of 17.30 BST, data shows.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium told the BBC: “Today, 30 July 2025, has seen a total of 45 departures cancelled so far, across all UK airports.
“There has also been a total of 35 arrivals cancelled so far, across all UK airports.
“London Heathrow has seen the highest number of cancellations so far, with a total of 16 departures and seven arrivals so far.
“There were also more than 16 flights en route to London Heathrow that had to be diverted to other airports.”
It is understood that the UK National Cyber Security Centre does not view today’s incident as a hack.
The Liberal Democrats have called for an urgent investigation into the causes of today’s air traffic control glitch.
In comments carried by PA news agency and echoing Ryanair’s frustration (17:29), the party’s leader Ed Davey said:
“It is utterly unacceptable that after a major disruption just two years ago, air traffic control has once again been hit by a technical fault.
With thousands of families preparing to go on a well-earned break, this just isn’t good enough.
The Government should launch an urgent investigation to ensure the system is fit for purpose, including ruling out hostile action as a cause.
The public deserve to have full confidence in such a vital piece of national infrastructure.”
First stories of passengers missing their flights as a result of disruption emerge on social media, with an Italian user expressing their frustration over a missed connection to New York after their flight from Milan to London was diverted to Paris.
Jakub Krupa
Since Ryanair’s McMahon mentioned lessons learned from the 2023 incident, let’s take a quick look at what they were.
Publishing its review of the 2023 outage that affected 700,000 passengers, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said in November last year that Nats should “review its contingency and engineering resource management arrangements” and look at “providing earlier notification to airlines and airports of possible disruption.”
It also added that airlines and airports should “review the adequacy of the support available to passengers during significant disruption, in particular to vulnerable passengers and those travelling with children, and to develop a standardised suite of passenger information during major incidents.”
I think it’s fair to say we can expect some of these issues to be given more attention again in the weeks ahead as a result of today’s outage.
Ryanair calls for Nats’ chief executive to resign
Budget airline Ryanair has called for Nats’ chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign after today’s outage, PA news agency reported, warning that “no lessons have been learnt” after the August 2023 system outage (16:52).
In a very blunt statement, Ryanair’s chief operating officer Neal McMahon said:
“It is outrageous that passengers are once again being hit with delays and disruption due to Martin Rolfe’s continued mismanagement of Nats.
Yet another ATC system failure has resulted in the closure of UK airspace meaning thousands of passengers’ travel plans have been disrupted.
It is clear that no lessons have been learnt since the Aug 2023 Nats system outage, and passengers continue to suffer as a result of Martin Rolfe’s incompetence.
If Nats CEO Martin Rolfe fails to resign on the back of this latest Nats system outage that has disrupted thousands of passengers yet again, then UK transport minister Heidi Alexander must act without delay to remove Martin Rolfe and deliver urgent reform of Nats’ shambolic ATC service, so that airlines and passengers are no longer forced to endure these preventable delays caused by persistent Nats failures.”
The Eurocontrol’s live traffic map – previously showing an orange alert over the UK – has now cleared, indicating that the issue is now resolved.
BA faces restrictions on number of flights at Heathrow
British Airways still faces the number of inbound and outbound flights at Heathrow restricted at just over two-thirds of the usual flow rate, PA news agency reported.
The company said it can only operate 32 flights per hour until 7.15pm before it is expected to be able to return to the usual level of 45 flights per hour.
Issues resolved, but there may be some ongoing impact, Stansted warns
London Stansted airport is the latest to issue an update to passengers, saying that while the issue has been resolved, “there may be some ongoing impact to flights schedules so passengers due to travel are advised to consult their airlines for updates.”
Jakub Krupa
Worth stressing even a small and time-limited outage in what is an incredibly congested London area and beyond can cause substantial disruptions as flights are diverted – and out of position – and/or delayed and may struggle to complete their normal, packed schedule.
‘Systems fully operational’ with traffic capacity ‘returning to normal’
National air traffic services, or Nats, has just confirmed that “our systems are fully operational and air traffic capacity is returning to normal.”
It added:
“Departures at all airports have resumed and we are working with affected airlines and airports to clear the backlog safely.
We apologise to everyone affected by this issue.”
Traffic control systems restored, but continued disruption expected, UK transport secretary says
UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander says in a post on X that she believes the traffic control systems “have now been restored,” although she warns about “continued disruption … expected.”
“I am aware of a technical issue which impacted @NATS operations causing travel disruption this afternoon.
I have been informed systems have now been restored but continued disruption is expected, and passengers should check with individual airports for advice.”
Edinburgh Airport just confirmed its departures have also resumed, but added that the disruption “will take time to work through”.