UK travellers faced more misery on Wednesday (September 9, 2026) with more than 150 flights scrapped across the country, as Britain’s air traffic control service scrambled to recover from a technical glitch that sparked chaos.
Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 said 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday (September 9) had already been axed, following 1,300 cancellations to and from UK airports on Tuesday (September 8).
The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said late Tuesday (September 8) it was still working to resolve disruption following a “system issue”. Heathrow said late Tuesday (September 8) that departures had resumed, after the “technical issue” forced the airport to suspend arrivals on Tuesday (September 8). NATS said earlier it had “resolved” the glitch that caused the disruption and was “working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights”. “It’s just an absolute nightmare down there,” healthcare worker Josie Donoghue said of Gatwick after leaving the airport, having had to disembark her flight to Ireland after three hours stuck on the runway. “Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz,” she told Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency. Liverpool, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports were also affected, while Dublin Aiport in Ireland said it had cancelled dozens of flights.
Arsenal, due to play Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday (September 9) in the southern Italian city, were forced to cancel a news conference ahead of the match after the team’s flight was delayed.
