Prestwick, United Kingdom: A technical failure at National Air Traffic Services’ (NATS) Prestwick Centre in Scotland disrupted flights across parts of the UK on 21 September 2026, with cancellations and delays affecting airports in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. NATS said the problem was a connectivity issue affecting part of its systems network and was fixed later that morning. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in a statement issued on 21 September, said passengers directly affected by the incident are unlikely to be entitled to compensation because the disruption is likely to fall under “extraordinary circumstances”.
NATS said in its statement released on 21 September, 2026, “To maintain safety, air traffic regulations were applied to manage traffic demand while our engineers investigated.” The organisation later confirmed that the problem had been fixed and said it was working with airports and airlines to remove the remaining air-traffic restrictions. NATS described the fault as a “connectivity issue with part of our systems network” and said it was specific to operations in Scotland. It also stressed that the incident was unrelated to the separate technical failure earlier in September.
The disruption was concentrated in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, with Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Edinburgh among the airports reporting delays. London Gatwick and London City also warned of some disruption. Cirium data showed that 227 flights had been cancelled by late afternoon on 21 September 2026. The disruption followed the imposition of air-traffic restrictions while NATS engineers investigated the problem.
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said after the fault was resolved, “Engineers have fixed the problem and systems are resuming.” She also warned that “there may be some delays as things reset” and advised passengers to check with their airlines for the latest information.
Airlines criticised the disruption, which came less than two weeks after a separate NATS failure caused widespread UK flight disruption. easyJet said the latest failure “once again calls into question the resilience of Nats’ systems” and said firm action was needed to prevent repeated failures. British Airways said “yet another technical fault with Nats” could disrupt some customers and said it was working to minimise the impact. Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy called for “action, accountability and proper resilience” following the latest incident.
Ryanair said more than 25,000 of its passengers were affected and more than 140 of its flights were delayed. The airline renewed its call for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign. Those comments represent Ryanair’s position following the disruption and are not an independent determination of the cause or responsibility.
The CAA issued its passenger-rights guidance on 21 September 2026. A CAA spokesperson said: “We know many passengers have faced disruption and frustration” following the Prestwick issue and reminded airlines of their responsibility to look after affected passengers. The regulator said the incident is likely to be considered an “extraordinary circumstance”, meaning passengers are unlikely to qualify for compensation for delays or cancellations directly caused by it.
However, the CAA made clear that the absence of compensation does not remove airlines’ other obligations. Cancelled passengers must be offered a choice between a refund, rerouting at the earliest opportunity or rerouting at a later date. Airlines must also provide appropriate care during qualifying delays, including meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation where required. If an airline cannot provide suitable care, the CAA said passengers may make reasonable arrangements themselves and seek reimbursement, while avoiding excessive costs.
The CAA also noted that its interpretation of “extraordinary circumstances” is guidance rather than a determination in every individual case. Each passenger’s circumstances remain fact-specific, and the regulator said passengers who disagree with the interpretation can still seek compensation, including through the courts.
As of 22 September 2026, NATS’ latest official position remains that the Prestwick connectivity problem has been fixed. However, NATS and the CAA both warned that the knock-on effects of the disruption could continue after the underlying technical problem was resolved. Passengers affected by continuing delays or cancellations have therefore been advised to check directly with their airlines for updated flight information.
The 21 September incident was separate from the NATS system failure on 8 September, which caused much wider disruption and the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights. NATS has specifically stated that the Prestwick connectivity problem had “nothing to do” with that earlier incident.
