Britain flight chaos deepens, 177 flights cancelled as air traffic glitch hits airlines

A technical glitch in Britain’s air traffic control system has thrown flight schedules into disarray, forcing airlines, including Air India, to scramble to contain the fallout across the UK and beyond.

Flights to and from airports in the United Kingdom were disrupted after NATS, the country’s air traffic control provider, encountered a technical problem. The disruption prompted Air India to divert, delay and cancel multiple services involving UK airports, the airline said in an X post on September 9.

According to latest reports, hundreds of flights have been impacted by the glitch.


Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 said 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had already been axed, following 1,300 cancellations to and from UK airports a day before.

One of these flights, Air India flight AI 131 from Mumbai to London, was diverted and landed in Zurich amid the disruption, news agencies reported. The plane, with over 290 passengers on board, landed at Zurich Airport after things at Heathrow went for a toss.

According to an ANI report, passengers initially remained onboard the aircraft at Zurich and were instructed to wait as the situation at London Heathrow was expected to be resolved. However, the flight was subsequently cancelled, and all passengers deboarded at Zurich Airport.

Air India said the disruption could also affect some of its other flights as aircraft and crew were left out of position following the incident. Passengers were advised to check the latest flight status on Air India’s website before travelling to the airport.

Air India said it was closely tracking the situation and taking steps to limit the impact on passengers. The airline attributed the disruption to circumstances beyond its control and expressed regret for the inconvenience caused.

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The technical problem also disrupted departures from several airports across Britain. Heathrow Airport said the NATS issue was affecting departing flights, while arrivals were not impacted at that stage.

The disruption spread during Tuesday to Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted airports, besides Heathrow. Airports said they were working with local NATS teams to help restore normal operations and provide passengers with updated information.


Flight monitoring website Flightradar24 reported that more than 1,000 flights had been cancelled on Tuesday because of the technical issue in Britain’s air traffic control system.

Also, many flights to and from UK airports, including Heathrow, were cancelled, affecting services operated by several airlines such as British Airways, EasyJet, KLM and Lufthansa.

Heathrow advised affected passengers to contact their respective airlines for the latest information on their flights.

NATS manages air traffic across UK airspace and also provides air traffic control services at several major airports in the country.

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EasyJet said some of its flights were unable to operate because of the system failure, which also resulted in delays across Europe.

The disruption adds to the operational challenges for airlines as they work to reposition aircraft and crews following the UK air traffic control outage.

Air India has asked passengers travelling on affected routes to verify their flight status before leaving for the airport.