UK air traffic control failure delays over 140 Ryanair flights, disrupting 25,000 passengers

Disruption overview

Early on 21 September 2026, a technical failure at the UK's NATS Prestwick center in Scotland disrupted flights across Scottish and northern UK airspace, with Ryanair reporting more than 140 delayed flights and over 25,000 affected customers.

Airports including Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Glasgow Airport (GLA), and Newcastle Airport (NCL) saw queues and rolling schedule changes, and airlines warned that disruption would continue even after the systems were restored.

Because the root cause was an air traffic control problem outside airline control, compensation is less likely, but passengers should still receive care and assistance during long delays, plus rerouting or a refund if their flight was canceled.

Get flight compensation

Check if the airline owes you money for your delayed or canceled flight

Disruption details

A technical failure at the UK's National Air Traffic Services Prestwick center in Scotland disrupted flights early on 21 September 2026, with Ryanair reporting more than 140 delayed flights and over 25,000 affected passengers.

For passengers, this meant long waits, rolling schedule changes, and some cancellations as airlines tried to keep services moving across Scottish and northern UK airspace.

The Prestwick center manages large areas of airspace over Scotland and the north of the UK. When a key system component malfunctioned, NATS had to impose capacity restrictions, forcing airlines to delay or cancel flights while alternative routings were arranged.

Although the affected systems were restored during the morning, the disruption didn't end there. Aircraft and crews were already out of position, so airlines warned that the knock-on effects would continue for the rest of the day as they worked through disrupted rotations and rebookings.

The worst disruption was on flights to, from, or through Scotland and the north of England, with spillover on some Northern Ireland services too. Significant queues and rolling schedule changes were reported at Edinburgh Airport (EDI) and Glasgow Airport (GLA), while Newcastle Airport (NCL) also saw delays. Some Belfast-bound rotations were affected as the disruption spread through the day's schedules.

Ryanair gave the clearest picture of the scale, saying more than 140 flights had been delayed and that over 25,000 customers would have their travel plans disrupted. The airline also renewed criticism of NATS leadership and called for reforms to improve system resilience.

That criticism comes just days after another major air traffic control problem. A much larger NATS outage on 8 September 2026 paralyzed parts of UK and European airspace, and a preliminary report released on 18 September 2026 blamed that earlier failure on a software defect. This latest issue means the UK has now faced a second air traffic control failure in less than 2 weeks.

NATS urged passengers to keep checking real-time flight information with their airline. No injuries or safety issues were reported, but residual delays were still expected to continue into the evening before operations fully stabilized.

Because this disruption was caused by an air traffic control system problem rather than something the airline could control, compensation is less likely under UK 261. Even so, the UK Civil Aviation Authority reminded travelers that airlines still need to provide care and assistance during long delays, including meals, refreshments, and accommodation where necessary.

If your flight was canceled, your airline should also offer rerouting or a refund. Although compensation is unlikely here, that doesn't mean you're without support. If you'd like to better understand what may apply to your flight, you can use AirHelp's free flight checker.

Protect your future trips with AirHelp+

Secure your flights, luggage and get lounge access