• UK Prime Minister Andy fails to back NATS air traffic boss as reported in The Telegraph and Sky News this afternoon after disruption across Scotland and the North of England this morning.
• A NATS spokesperson has stated that this was due to a “connectivity issue” that has now been resolved, after 200 flights cancelled.
• Major airlines and airports have been reported as “lining up to criticise” the national air traffic control provider, after a second major incident in two weeks.

Live reporting – updating

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has failed to support Martin Rolfe, head of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) which handles air movements across the UK aerospace and parts of the North Atlantic; including key flight lanes to the US, Canada and further afield from the UK and Europe.

This follows an incident this morning at the Prestwick Centre in Ayrshire, Scotland, which saw approximately 200 flights cancelled across the UK. News of the “technical issue” broke after 09:00 this morning, but the pan-European air traffic coordinator, Eurocontrol, is said to have know about the issue much earlier.

The issue was reportedly unrelated to the situation that occurred across the UK earlier this month and resulted in substantial disruption, including more than 2,000 flights being cancelled.

As reported by Sky News, when asked if the Prime Minister still had confidence in Rolfe, the spokesperson said a review was “still ongoing with the Transport Secretary (Heidi Alexander MP).”

Airlines UK, representing UK-registered airlines, has spoken out against the current state of NATS, with Tim Alderslade, CEO, commenting “The UK’s ATC system is critical national infrastructure, and it must be resilient enough to keep people moving. Passengers and airlines deserve better.”

This is the second NATS related issue in two weeks that has caused significant disruption across the UK’s airspace.

Failures in UK ATC systems cost airlines an estimated GBP100 million in 2023, in an incident found by investigators to be related to engineers working from home. A radar related issue in July last year, also saw over 150 flights cancelled.

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