Air traffic control boss rules out cyberattack as UK airports slowly recover from chaos
Thousands of passengers were affected by disruption on Tuesday, which led to flights being cancelled and the knock-on effects spilling over for a second day.
The UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has dismissed the possibility of a cyberattack as the cause of the recent widespread disruption at UK airports. Over 2,000 flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of passengers were affected by the issue on Tuesday, with delays and cancellations continuing into a second day. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and Manchester were the busiest airports impacted, with Heathrow leading the cancellations and delays.
NATS CEO Martin Rolfe told the BBC that a thorough investigation would be conducted, noting that the incident was unprecedented in the airline industry's history. The UK government holds a 49% stake in NATS, and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has demanded Rolfe's resignation following three major air traffic collapses under his leadership.
The problem occurred in NATS' flight processing system, distinct from the 2023 and 2025 outages. UK airports are now operating with ongoing disruption as airlines reposition aircraft and crew, with Air India among the affected carriers.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
