Massive shutdown hits UK Airports

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Massive shutdown hits UK Airports

September 11, 2026

Way to make a Travel > Hotel News > Massive shutdown hits UK Airports

Disruptions to British air travel continued today, a day after a technical fault in air traffic control led to the cancellation of more than two thousand flights.

According to data from the aviation analytics firm Cirium, 1,746 flights were cancelled in the country yesterday alone, French media report.

By noon today, another 327 flights had been cancelled, with the majority of them at London’s Heathrow Airport.

“We sat on the plane for a little over five hours. Then, around 6:30 p.m., all the planes at the airport disembarked their passengers at the same time, turning the situation into a huge, chaotic scene,” said 28-year-old Matt Ernster, who was returning to Boston from his honeymoon in Paris.

“The escalators broke down. Everyone was stuck in a massive queue of several thousand people just to reach customs control. And then they waited another hour or two at customs,” he added.
Since no hotel could be found near the airport last night, this traveler decided to spend the night in a waiting area at Heathrow.

According to the air traffic control body NATS, the fault occurred yesterday in the early afternoon, and NATS confirmed around 7:30 p.m. last night that it had “resolved” the issue.

Stabilizing traffic at Heathrow—Europe’s largest airport by passenger numbers—”will take some time” due to the cumulative flight delays, NATS announced.

NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe ruled out the possibility of a “cyber-attack” and announced a “very thorough investigation.”