At least 16 flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport were cancelled on Thursday, following a major disruption caused by a technical fault in the UK’s air traffic control system the day

before. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS), responsible for managing UK airspace and parts of the North Atlantic, said on Wednesday that its systems were now back to full operation, with flight capacity gradually returning to normal after switching to a backup system.

This marks the second such incident in two years, impacting not only Heathrow but also Gatwick, Edinburgh, and other UK airports. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 122 flights had been cancelled by 18:30 GMT on Wednesday.

Transport Minister Heidi Alexander announced plans to meet with NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to investigate the cause and discuss measures to prevent future occurrences. She confirmed on social media that NATS is coordinating with airlines and airports to reduce delays and manage the backlog. Heathrow’s website listed at least 16 cancelled flights on Thursday, including departures to Brussels and Toronto, and arrivals from New York and Berlin.

This is the latest setback for Heathrow, the UK’s largest and Europe’s busiest airport, which also experienced significant disruption in March due to a fire at a power substation that left thousands of passengers stranded. Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon criticized NATS’ leadership, calling for Rolfe’s resignation and accusing the agency of failing to learn from a similar failure in August 2023, when flight plan automation issues led to widespread delays. NATS, which issued an apology on Wednesday for the disruption, has not yet responded to McMahon’s remarks. Photo by Ed Webster, Wikimedia commons.