8th Sep 2026 18:23
(Alliance News) - Flights departing the UK have been disrupted by an air traffic control "technical issue", Nats has said.
Birmingham Airport said the issue was affecting airspace in the south of the UK and was "impacting a significant number of departing flights across the country".
Heathrow Airport, the UK's largest airport in west London, confirmed it was one of the airports impacted but said arriving flights were "currently not affected" in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
Manchester Airport Group, the company that operates Manchester Airport, Stansted Airport in Essex and East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, said flights from all three had been affected by the issue.
Jersey Airport, in the Channel Islands, said its flights had also been impacted.
Passengers have been advised to check the latest flight information with their airlines.
Nats said in a statement: "We are investigating a technical issue which is causing some disruption to flight departures.
"Our engineers are on site and we will provide an update as soon as we can.
"We apologise for the delay this will cause to journeys, passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight.
"We will provide updates on www.nats.aero and on X – @NATS."
A Heathrow spokesperson said: "The air traffic control service Nats is experiencing a technical issue which is impacting departing flights at UK airports.
"Arriving flights are not currently impacted.
"We are supporting our local Nats team in their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
"We will provide updated information when we have it."
The airport apologised to impacted customers.
Nats provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports.
Last July, a "radar-related issue" caused an air traffic control failure that grounded flights across the UK – disrupting thousands of passengers and forcing the cancellation of more than 160 flights.
The problem happened at Nats' control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, and affected the vast majority of England and Wales.
A government source said at the time that the failure lasted around 20 minutes, and the level of disruption was similar to a day with bad weather.
In August 2023, more than 700,000 passengers suffered disruption when flights were grounded at UK airports when Nats suffered a technical glitch while processing a flight plan.
By Rosie Shead, Press Association Transport Correspondent
source: PA
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