A technical snag in Britain’s air traffic control system on Tuesday disrupted flight schedules, prompting airlines to issue advisories about possible delays, diversions, and cancellations.
Flight schedules
were thrown into disarray at Britain’s airports, including Heathrow, after a technical glitch in the air traffic control system triggered delays and cancellations.
In a post on X, Air India cautioned passengers about possible delays, saying several of its flights that were scheduled to operate to and from British airports were diverted, cancelled or delayed.
“Flights operating to and from airports in the United Kingdom have been impacted by a technical fault at NATS, the UK air traffic control provider. As a result, Air India has been forced to divert, delay or cancel multiple flights scheduled to operate to and from UK airports”, it said.
Flights operating to and from airports in the United Kingdom have been impacted by a technical fault at NATS, the UK air traffic control provider. As a result, Air India has been forced to divert, delay or cancel multiple flights scheduled to operate to and from…
— Air India (@airindia) September 8, 2026
“This may lead to delays in some of our other services, too, as our aircraft and crews are out of position following the disruption”, the airline said.
Air India said it was keeping a close eye on the situation, while also urging passengers to check their respective flight statuses before travelling.
“Passengers are advised to check the latest status of their flights here https://airindia.com/in/en/manage/flight-status.html before proceeding to the airport. We are closely monitoring the situation and are making every effort to minimise disruptions as much as possible”, the airline said.
“We regret the inconvenience caused by this unfortunate situation, which is entirely beyond our control, and thank our passengers for their patience and understanding”, it added.
Over 600 flights were cancelled on Tuesday, September 8, after air traffic control provider NATS suffered a technical glitch. Major airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted, were among the major hubs hit by cancellations and delays.
British Airways said it was forced to cancel or divert over a hundred flights on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in inconvenience to tens of thousands of passengers.
“While NATS has informed us that their air traffic control system fault has been resolved, the severity of the issue means that there will be a significant knock-on impact on our customers and colleagues”, the airline said in a statement.
08.09.26 1800: An update for our customers pic.twitter.com/HJPl45gUI3
— British Airways (@British_Airways) September 8, 2026
The airline explained that the incident was “entirely out of our control”, adding it was an “incredibly frustrating experience for our customers and colleagues”.
It urged passengers whose flights have been cancelled not to travel to the airport. “If you no longer wish to travel today or tomorrow, you can move your flight for free up until Friday 11 September”.
Issue Resolved But Backlog Remains
NATS said the technical fault in the system had affected its flight data processing system. By early evening on Tuesday, the air traffic control provider said while the problem had been fixed, clearing the backlog would take time.
“Recovery from today’s system issue has taken longer than we had hoped,” Britain’s air traffic control service, known as NATS, said in a statement posted on X.
“Our system issue is now resolved, we are operating normally and working as hard as possible to clear the backlog of flights,” it said.
