# Nats system fault forces cancellation of over two thousand flights

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/uk-flight-disruption-extends-into-third-day-as-air-traffic-control-fault-affects-250000-passengers/
- Published: 2026-09-10T08:08:08+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-10T14:23:59+00:00
- Topics: AI, Americas, Art, Business, Celebrity, Culture, Economy, Elections, Entertainment, Fashion, Geopolitics, Government, Health, Medicine, Middle East, Music, Politics, Technology, Travel, TV, UK, World

## Key points

- Nats system fault caused over 2,145 UK flight cancellations across two days
- Flight schedules returned to normal on Thursday, Cirium reports
- Nats boss Martin Rolfe faces resignation calls and a week to explain the fault

## Summary

UK flight disruption caused by a fault in National Air Traffic Services (Nats) systems ran its course over two days before schedules returned to normal on Thursday, with no cancellations forecast for the day, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The episode, which began with a technical failure on Tuesday, ultimately led to more than 2,145 flight cancellations and delays, prompting the government to give Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe a week to explain what went wrong, amid calls for him to resign.

Although the underlying fault was fixed on Tuesday, its effects rippled into Wednesday, when Cirium recorded 399 cancellations alone. British Airways was the hardest-hit carrier, with 88 of its 507 scheduled Wednesday departures affected; the airline apologised to customers, calling the disruption "entirely out of our control". Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary branded Rolfe's position "untenable", a view he was expected to repeat at Ryanair's annual meeting near Dublin on Thursday.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: Passengers face more than 50 further cancellations as flight disruption enters third day and calls grow for air traffic control boss to resign](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16119877/Passengers-face-cancellations-flight-disruption-NATS-boss.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [The Guardian: UK flight disruption expected to clear; Primark to start offering home delivery in UK – business live](https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/sep/10/markets-economy-oil-uk-flight-disruption-primark-home-delivery-business-live-news)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.