UK air traffic control failure hits 1,300 flights, Nats boss summoned to commons

The chief executive of Nats, the company that runs UK air traffic control, has been called in by transport secretary Heidi Alexander after a UK air traffic control failure left more than 1,300 flights cancelled and tens of thousands of passengers stranded across a second day of disruption.

For business travellers the timing could hardly be worse. The fault at National Air Traffic Services, which provides air traffic control at 15 UK airports, took hold at about 1pm on Tuesday and hit departures from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, the four airports that carry the bulk of the UK’s corporate traffic. By Wednesday morning the knock-on effects were still rippling through airline schedules, with further cancellations and delays expected as carriers try to get aircraft and crews back into position.

Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe is due to speak to Alexander before she goes into the Commons for the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill. The company has ruled out a cyber-attack as the cause and has apologised for the disruption.

Heathrow worst affected on second day

Figures from FlightRadar showed 246 flights had been cancelled at Heathrow by 6am on Wednesday, with a further 33 cancellations at Gatwick. Anyone booked to fly from either airport this week should check the status of their flight before setting off, and it is worth reading our Heathrow airport guide and our Gatwick airport guide for the practical detail on terminals, transfers and lounges if you end up with hours to fill.

Nats said on Tuesday evening that it had fixed its flight processing system almost four hours after the problem began. By then, however, most of the flights scheduled to leave in that window were still on the ground, and the disruption had spread to arrivals across much of southern England. In a statement the company said: “This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover.”

The episode is the third major UK air traffic control stoppage in just over three years, and it follows earlier outages that also grounded flights at Heathrow and Gatwick.

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Nats chief accepts responsibility

Asked on Sky News whether he was considering his position, Rolfe said he “always accept(s) full responsibility” for incidents of this kind.

He said: “I am the CEO of a piece of critical infrastructure, so it is my job to take responsibility for that. What I absolutely take responsibility for is keeping people safe and delivering the best service we possibly can on a day like today.”

He added: “You will understand my focus is entirely about how we actually resolve this issue, get things back to normal, help our airlines, our airport customers and the travelling public.”

What UK business travellers can claim

The practical question for anyone whose trip has been wrecked is what they are owed. Under UK law, airlines must offer passengers on a cancelled flight a choice between a refund and rerouting, and must provide meals, refreshments and, where necessary, overnight accommodation while they wait for an alternative flight. Those care obligations apply regardless of what caused the cancellation.

Cash compensation is a different matter. An air traffic control failure is generally treated as an extraordinary circumstance outside the airline’s control, which means carriers can usually decline to pay the fixed compensation that would apply to a cancellation of their own making. The UK Civil Aviation Authority sets out the rules on when compensation is due, and the government’s air passenger travel guide summarises the care and rerouting rights that still apply. Our own explainer on flight delay compensation covers how to make a claim.

In the meantime, the sensible steps are the familiar ones. Keep every receipt for food, hotels and onward transport, because those costs can be reclaimed from the airline even when compensation is not payable. If a meeting cannot be missed, look at rerouting through an airport outside the affected area or, for near-European destinations, by rail. And if your company uses a travel management company, lean on it now, as its agents will have access to rebooking options that are not visible on airline apps.