London, 1 August - On July 30, 2025, a technical glitch in the United Kingdom’s air traffic control system caused widespread disruption, leading to the cancellation of more than 150 flights and affecting thousands of passengers across the country. The issue, which originated at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) control center in Swanwick, Hampshire, was identified as a radar-related problem that temporarily halted departures and disrupted arrivals at major airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and London City. Although NATS engineers resolved the issue within approximately 20 minutes by switching to a backup system, the brief outage created a significant backlog, resulting in hours of delays and cancellations that continued to impact travelers into the following day.
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The disruption began in the afternoon, prompting NATS to reduce flight traffic to ensure safety while the radar issue was addressed. Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, experienced the highest number of cancellations, with 29 outbound and 17 inbound flights canceled by late Wednesday evening, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Across all UK airports, 84 departures and 71 arrivals were canceled, representing 3% of outbound and 2% of inbound flights. British Airways, one of the major carriers affected, was forced to limit its operations at Heathrow to 32 flights per hour, down from the usual 45, until 7:15 PM. Gatwick Airport reported no departures for a period, with some inbound flights diverted or placed in holding patterns. Other airports, such as Stansted and Manchester, also faced significant disruptions, with passengers advised to check flight statuses with their airlines.
The timing of the outage, during the peak summer holiday season, exacerbated its impact. Thousands of passengers, including families and holidaymakers, were stranded, with some flights diverted mid-air or turned back to their departure cities. The ripple effect left aircraft and crews out of position, complicating efforts to restore normal operations. NATS issued an apology, confirming that systems were fully operational within an hour and that there was no evidence of a cyber-related cause. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre supported this assessment, ruling out a hacking incident. Despite the swift resolution, airlines reported ongoing delays on Thursday, with Manchester Airport noting a small number of cancellations and Heathrow canceling 10 flights that morning.
Under UK and EU regulations, passengers affected by cancellations due to air traffic control issues are not entitled to compensation, as such disruptions are considered “extraordinary circumstances.” However, airlines are obligated to provide refunds or alternative flights at no extra cost, along with meals and accommodation if necessary. The Department for Transport emphasized that NATS was working to clear the backlog, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met with NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to discuss the incident and measures to prevent recurrence. The event, reminiscent of a major outage in August 2023 that affected over 700,000 passengers, underscored ongoing challenges in maintaining the resilience of the UK’s air traffic control infrastructure.