UK Radar Glitch Cancels Over 120 Flights
A major radar system glitch disrupted flight operations across the United Kingdom on July 30, grounding aircraft at key airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and London City. The issue originated at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) control centre in Swanwick and was resolved by switching to a backup system within 20 minutes. However, the resulting backlog caused hours of delays and cancellations.
Over 150 Flights Affected Nationwide
By the evening, at least 155 flights had been cancelled—84 departures and 71 arrivals—while hundreds more were delayed. Heathrow alone accounted for more than 120 of the total cancellations. Several flights were also diverted to other airports as air traffic controllers tried to manage the disruption.
Airlines Slam Air Traffic Body
Budget airlines Ryanair and easyJet strongly criticised NATS for the outage. Ryanair demanded the resignation of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe, calling the failure unacceptable. EasyJet said recurring system faults have damaged customer trust and raised serious questions about infrastructure reliability. Some airlines are now calling for a government-led investigation into the stability of the UK’s air traffic systems.
Passenger Rights and Reactions
Thousands of passengers were left stranded in terminals or stuck on runways due to the unanticipated delays. While airlines have offered assistance including meals and hotel stays where necessary, the incident is classified under “extraordinary circumstances,” meaning airlines are not legally obligated to pay additional compensation.
Services Recover, But Delays Persist
Although air traffic control systems were restored quickly, airlines and airports struggled to clear the resulting backlog. Delays continued into the evening, with some airlines warning of ongoing disruption into the next day. Authorities confirmed the issue was technical in nature and not related to any cyberattack or external threat.
