Passengers unlikely to get compensation as UK airports return to normal after days of flight chaos
Around 100 flights were affected by cancellations on Thursday
Tfoso
Airports in the UK are largely operating as scheduled following days of flight chaos due to an issue with air traffic control.
Around 2,163 flights were affected after National Air Traffic Services (Nats), the UK’s air traffic control provider, issued an alert over a “technical issue” causing disruption on Tuesday, 8 September.
Delays and cancellations continued on Wednesday at aviation hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester, as travellers attempted to reorganise flights.
At least 300,000 passengers would have been impacted, based on the 30 per cent cancellation rate of flights, said aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The aviation disruption has stabilised as of Thursday evening, with just 54 of 3,028 scheduled arrivals cancelled or not operating – representing 1.78 per cent of all flights, it added.
For departures, 47 of 3,033 scheduled flights are affected (1.55 per cent).
This is only slightly higher than a normal day, says Cirium.
Heathrow remains the most affected, with 23 arrivals and 12 departures cancelled today.
Nats chief Martin Rolfe was summoned at lunchtime on Wednesday to see Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, to account for the disruption.
It is the third major incident caused by a Nats system failure in three years, following significant issues in August 2023 and July 2025.
Mr Rolfe has been given a week to collate a report on the reasons for the technical failure after the transport secretary said she did “not believe the issue was unavoidable”.
He has come under significant scrutiny from airlines this week, including Wizz Air and BA. In a statement, Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon described Rolfe as an “overpaid failing” boss, and called for him to be sacked.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is conducting an independent review, has told passengers that the “disruption caused by the Nats outage is likely to be considered the result of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under passenger rights rules”.
This means that affected passengers will unlikely to be entitled to compensation.
Typically, the phrase is understood to mean “political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes”.
Flights from the UK and EU airports (as well as those in the wider EEA) are usually subject to European rules.
A cancellation, or even a delay of hours rather than minutes, could trigger the obligation for an airline to provide a hotel room and meals as appropriate. If the airline is to blame, it will also owe hundreds of pounds in cash.
After Tuesday’s nationwide chaos, however, airlines will likely argue that the disruption was out of their control.
Read more: Your refund rights and why compensation is ‘unlikely’ after airport chaos
