At Heathrow, departures were stopped around lunchtime before services restarted and then encountered further intermittent disruption in the afternoon, while arriving aircraft continued to land. Gatwick said it was affected by the same issue, and Stansted and East Midlands reported problems with departing services. Manchester warned some outbound flights could be delayed and Edinburgh said its operations might be hit.
The fault also reached across the Irish Sea, with Dublin and Cork recording delays linked to the problem. Airports and carriers kept runways open for arrivals and adjusted departure schedules to manage the backlog, creating a stop-start pattern that extended knock-on delays across timetables at the UK’s busiest airports.
Nats said its engineers were working on site to restore normal operations. "We have identified that the issue was in our flight processing system. Our engineers are on site and working urgently to resume normal operations as quickly as possible," the organisation said. It added, "Flights are still departing and airspace is open, but recovery will take some time." Nats apologised for the delays and urged passengers to check the status of their journeys with their airline, saying it would post updates on www.nats.aero and on X.
Airlines and ground handlers are rebalancing departures that were held or rescheduled, a process that will prolong disruption for some services. Travellers were advised to confirm timings directly with carriers before travelling to the airport and to monitor the provider’s updates for the latest operational information.
Until Nats confirms full recovery of its systems, some delay to outbound flights is likely to persist as engineers continue remedial work and operators clear the backlog. Official updates from Nats will remain the primary source of information for passengers and industry operators while the provider completes repairs.
