The airline says more than 60,000 passengers have been rebooked as it restores nearly 80% of its network following Tuesday’s UK air traffic control failure
British Airways is rebuilding its network after the NATS air traffic control outage forced almost 550 flight cancellations and disrupted more than 85,000 customers.
- British Airways says Tuesday’s NATS air traffic control issue has forced almost 550 flight cancellations and affected more than 85,000 customers.
- More than 60,000 affected customers had been rebooked by the airline’s 16:00 update on 9 September 2026.
- British Airways said it was able to operate almost 80% of its network schedule on Wednesday despite aircraft and crews being displaced.
- The airline cancelled more than 190 flights from Wednesday’s original schedule as UK aviation continued recovering from the resolved NATS system issue.
(NEWS) LONDON, United Kingdom, 2026-Sep-09 — /Travel PR News/ — British Airways says the disruption caused by Tuesday’s UK air traffic control failure has now forced it to cancel almost 550 flights, affecting more than 85,000 customers across its network.
By its 16:00 update on Wednesday, 9 September, the airline said more than 60,000 passengers had already been rebooked onto alternative services. It also reported operating almost 80% of its schedule across the network during the day as aircraft and crews were gradually repositioned following the previous day’s disruption.
Recovery continues after aircraft and crews were displaced
The scale of the knock-on effect became clear early on Wednesday. In a morning operational update, British Airways said it had worked through the night to rebuild its flight programme but still had to cancel more than 190 services from the day’s original schedule because aircraft and crews were out of position.
The airline has asked customers whose flights are cancelled not to travel to the airport and has warned that its phone and chat channels are experiencing heavy demand. British Airways’ travel information page is carrying the latest operational guidance for affected passengers.
The disruption follows a technical failure at NATS, the UK’s main air traffic control provider, on Tuesday, 8 September. The issue disrupted flight departures across the UK, leaving airlines and airports to manage the consequences as flight schedules, aircraft rotations and crew positioning were restored.
Heathrow Airport, British Airways’ principal hub, said on Wednesday that flights were operating again but warned passengers to expect some continuing knock-on disruption while airlines worked to return their operations to normal. Travellers were advised to check their flight status directly with their airline before heading to the airport.
British Airways renews call for greater aviation resilience
British Airways used its latest update to renew longstanding concerns about the resilience of the wider aviation system. The carrier said that when one part of the system fails, the consequences can spread quickly across airlines, airports, crews and passengers, even after the original technical fault has been fixed.
The airline described the recovery from the incident as severe and complex and said it would continue working over the coming days until affected customers had been moved onto alternative journeys. It also called for the underlying resilience issues highlighted by this and previous disruption events to be addressed urgently.
For passengers, the immediate priority remains practical: check the latest flight status before travelling, monitor airline communications closely and use the rebooking options offered where a service has been cancelled. With British Airways already carrying most of its planned network again on Wednesday, the focus has shifted from the initial air traffic control failure to clearing the operational backlog created by the outage.
