Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has renewed his call for Martin Rolfe, head of National Air Traffic Services (NATS), to be sacked after technical failures caused a third consecutive day of flight disruption across the UK. Speaking in Dublin, O'Leary accused the government of shielding Rolfe because it holds a 49 per cent stake in NATS, calling it "beyond comprehension" that Rolfe was overseeing the investigation into his own organisation's failures rather than being removed.

A total of 51 flights were cancelled at UK airports on the day of the report, with Heathrow worst hit by 28 cancellations, followed by Gatwick with 11 and Glasgow with five. Rolfe, who earned £1.42 million last year despite presiding over three major NATS collapses, was summoned by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who blamed a technical fault at the Swanwick site, ruled out a cyber-attack, and ordered an independent review by the Civil Aviation Authority while giving Rolfe a week to report back. Downing Street said the Prime Minister retained confidence in Rolfe, even as the wider disruption, which has affected some 330,000 passengers since Tuesday, began easing.