Airlines step up criticism of UK air traffic control after second disruption

Airlines have renewed criticism of the UK’s air traffic control system after a second technical fault in two weeks disrupted flights across the country.

EasyJet said Monday’s incident had “once again” raised questions about the resilience of the service, while Wizz Air said it had deepened a “national confidence crisis” in National Air Traffic Services (Nats), the organisation responsible for UK air traffic control.

The problem at Prestwick in Ayrshire affected airports across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, causing delays to dozens of flights.

Nats said the disruption was caused by a “connectivity issue” and said it was unrelated to a separate software defect at Swanwick, which led to the cancellation of about 2,000 flights earlier in September.

The issue behind Monday’s disruption has now been resolved, with Nats saying the system was operating at “full capacity”, although it warned passengers and airlines could still face knock-on delays.

A spokesperson said the organisation was now “focused on working with our customers to recover their residual delays and help get their operations back to normal”.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that by 13:45 BST, at least 200 flights had been cancelled or had not operated on Monday. The figure included 100 flights scheduled to arrive in the UK and 99 due to depart.

EasyJet was the most affected carrier, with 47 of its 670 scheduled departures cancelled. British Airways recorded 11 cancellations from 513 planned departures.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said passengers whose flights were disrupted were “unlikely” to qualify for compensation.

It said the technical fault was likely to be treated as an “extraordinary circumstance” under passenger rights rules, meaning that while airlines should still provide care, passengers are unlikely to receive compensation for delays or cancellations directly caused by the incident.

Airlines UK, the industry body representing carriers, said passengers and airlines “deserve better” after “yet another Nats failure”.

Yvonne Moynihan, managing director of Wizz Air UK, called for “urgent reform” of Nats and said she lacked confidence in its current leadership.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s World at One whether Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe should resign, Moynihan said: “We need to look at the leadership at the top. But more than that, what are the board of directors doing?”

Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy urged “urgent and accountable” action to strengthen the UK’s air traffic control infrastructure.

Ryanair repeated its call for Rolfe to resign, saying he had failed to deliver “either a reliable system or an effective back-up”. The latest disruption affected 140 Ryanair flights and around 25,000 passengers.

British Airways said “yet another technical fault with Nats” was “disappointing”.

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