UK flight disruption continues on 9 September after air-traffic system fault
UK flight disruption continued on 9 September 2026 as airlines repositioned aircraft and crews following the previous day’s Nats system fault. Heathrow urged passengers to confirm their flight with their airline before travelling.
In short
- UK flight disruption continued on 9 September 2026 as airlines repositioned aircraft and crews following the previous day’s Nats system fault.
- Heathrow urged passengers to confirm their flight with their airline before travelling.
UK air passengers faced further disruption on 9 September 2026 as airlines worked to restore schedules after a fault in the National Air Traffic Services flight-processing system the previous day.
Heathrow said flights were operating on 9 September, but warned that disruption could continue while airlines moved aircraft and crews back into position, according to The Guardian’s live reporting. The airport advised passengers to check directly with their airline before leaving home and to travel to the airport only if their flight was confirmed to be operating.
The technical problem on 8 September affected major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted. Nats said that evening that the flight-processing fault had been fixed, but described the recovery across the aviation network as complex. Associated Press also reported the repair and the subsequent backlog.
Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe was due to speak with UK transport secretary Heidi Alexander on 9 September, The Guardian reported. The planned discussion came as airlines continued to deal with the effects of the outage.
Restoring the processing system did not immediately restore airline schedules. Heathrow’s warning about aircraft and crew positioning explains why passengers could still encounter cancellations after the technical fault had been resolved.
