August travel plans have been thrown into chaos for hundreds of thousands following an outage of the United Kingdom’s air traffic control systems that has led to lots of delays and cancellations.
A short statement posted on the NATs (National Air Traffic Services) website at 12:10 p.m. on Monday 28 August read, “We are currently experiencing a technical issue and have applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety. Engineers are working to find and fix the fault.”
In a subsequent statement, NATs explained that the technical issue affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans. When this occurs, flight plans must be updated manually to ensure passenger safety, and volume is severely reduced.
The organization stressed that the priority was flight safety and that UK airspace was not closed—capacity was just drastically reduced.
By 3:15 p.m. on Monday, NATs announced that the issue had been resolved in a final written statement. The team said, “We have identified and remedied the technical issue affecting our flight planning system this morning. We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible. Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance as we return to normal operations.
“The flight planning issue affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans, meaning that flight plans had to be processed manually, which cannot be done at the same volume, hence the requirement for traffic flow restrictions. Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing. Please contact your airline for information on how this may affect your flight.”
While flights were able to resume, the outage meant that thousands of flights in and out of the UK’s major transport hubs were affected. Pilots, planes, airline staff and over 200,000 travelers either didn’t leave the airport tarmac in the UK or got stuck in their holiday destination. Some passengers spent hours on the runway before disembarking their planned flights on Monday and Tuesday – and the travel chaos looks set to continue over the coming days.
As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday 29 August, hundreds of flights have been canceled by major airlines, as operations teams find ways to get passengers to and from their intended destinations. British Airways, Easyjet, and Ryanair are among the major airlines forced to strip back Tuesday’s flight schedule, and the logistical difficulties could continue for days to come.
What should I do if my flight is affected by the NATs outage?
Firstly, check your airline’s website and app for the latest information. Phone lines are likely to be extremely congested, but online pages are being updated by airlines. If you’re already in the airport, keep an eye on departure boards. If flights are canceled outright, head to the airline’s help desk—airport staff will be best placed to direct you.
Guidance on alternative or updated travel plans comes from the airline, although a full guide to traveller’s rights when flights are canceled can be found on the UK Civil Aviation Authority website, and on our guide to what to do if your flight is canceled.
How long will the delays and cancellations last?
Cancellations and delays have continued throughout Tuesday, August 29, although most airlines hope that the majority of their scheduled flights will run from Wednesday, August 30. However, this doesn’t account for the hundreds of thousands of travelers who are stranded in the wrong place due to canceled flights on Monday, August 28.
What should I do if I’m stranded in my holiday destination?
If your flight home to the UK was canceled due to the outage, your airline will contact you about rescheduling your journey. You won’t be due compensation as the outage was out of the airline’s control, however, you should be offered an alternative flight or a full refund for the canceled flight. The airline should provide food and drink for delays of a certain length, and overnight accommodation when necessary.
The latest airline statements
Easyjet
Easyjet’s updated statement, issued on Tuesday, August 29, reads, ”Due to the UK Air Traffic Control systems failure yesterday causing disruption to flights to and from the UK, some flights this morning have been unable to operate due to aircraft being out of base and yesterday’s delays having an impact on crew rest requirements.
