UK airports are scrambling to resume services after an hours-long air traffic control outage forced the cancellation of about 2,000 flights across several transport hubs this week, leaving passengers stranded.
A number of key regional carriers scrapped hundreds of flights to and from London airports Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted on Tuesday. Although some flights have now resumed, many travellers continued to face cancellations and delays on Wednesday.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK’s air traffic control provider, has faced criticism for the outage.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met with NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe on Wednesday, raising “significant concerns at the scale of disruption” and requesting an investigation into what went wrong, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
Airports in London – including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted – reported disruption, as well as in Manchester. In total, more than 1,750 flights arriving into and departing from UK airports were canceled on Tuesday, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics firm. On Wednesday, at least 291 flights were canceled, Cirium said.
Heathrow said Wednesday morning that flights “are operating” but disruptions may continue as airlines “reposition aircraft and crew.” Travelers were told to check with their airline before traveling. Gatwick and Stansted issued similar statements.
Heathrow is the world’s seventh-busiest airport by passenger traffic in 2025, according to data from the Airports Council International. More than 84 million people passed through last year.
