{
  "id": 6413619,
  "title": "FlightRadar24 reports 177 cancellations, cyberattack ruled out as UK travellers suffer ongoing chaos",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/flightradar24-reports-177-cancellations-cyberattack-ruled-out-as-uk",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-09T11:09:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail-malaymail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2026/09/09/flightradar24-reports-177-cancellations-cyberattack-ruled-out-as-uk-travellers-suffer-ongoing-chaos/234592"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On September 9, UK air travellers faced ongoing chaos as 177 flights were cancelled across the country due to a technical glitch, according to aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24. The glitch had impacted 1,300 flights to and from UK airports on the previous day, affecting tens of thousands of customers, particularly at London Heathrow, the busiest airport in Britain. Nearly all the latest cancellations occurred at Heathrow, as reported by FlightRadar24 on social media platform X.\n\nThe head of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), Martin Rolfe, stated that the company had ruled out cyberattack as the cause of the technical difficulties. Rolfe assured BBC Radio that NATS would conduct a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the incident. They had previously warned on X that it would take time to recover from the outage. British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Rolfe for a meeting on Wednesday, after which Rolfe accepted full responsibility but did not disclose whether he was considering resigning from his position.\n\nMeanwhile, British Airways expressed dissatisfaction with Rolfe, with Neal McMahon, the chief operations officer at Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, calling for his dismissal and accusing him of failing UK travellers. Heathrow Airport resumed departures after suspending arrivals due to the technical issue, but warned of ongoing disruption. The airport asked passengers to check with their airline before travelling.\n\nThe latest flight cancellations followed a similar technical glitch in July last year that resulted in numerous flights being cancelled, leading to widespread anger from airline executives. In 2023, Britain experienced its worst air systems failure in years, with over 700,000 passengers affected due to delays or cancellations.\n\nNATS acknowledged the frustration caused by the latest incident and apologized unreservedly. Heathrow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Dublin airports were all impacted by the glitch, while Dublin airport said it had cancelled dozens of flights. Ryanair reported that more than 65,000 of its passengers were disrupted, cancelling over 50 flights. English football club Arsenal had to cancel a news conference after their flight was delayed.",
  "summary": "LONDON, Sept 9 — UK air travellers faced more misery Wednesday with 177 flights scrapped across the country, as Br...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}