Delayed passengers wait and queue with their luggage at Terminal 3 of London Heathrow airport, west of London on Sept. 8, 2026, following major disruption due an issue affecting the NATS air traffic control systems.(Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP)
Turkish Airlines has warned passengers of possible delays and cancellations as British airports struggle to clear a backlog caused by a failure in the country’s air traffic control system.
“Some of our flights arriving in and departing from the United Kingdom may experience delays and cancellations,” the carrier said.
Passengers were advised to check their flight status through the TK Assistant application or the airline’s website.
The warning came as 177 flights scheduled for Sept. 9 were cancelled across Britain, nearly all of them at London’s Heathrow Airport, according to aircraft tracking website Flightradar24.
About 1,300 flights to and from British airports were cancelled the previous day after a fault in the flight processing system operated by National Air Traffic Services, or NATS.
NATS said the technical problem had been resolved but warned that the aviation network would need time to recover.
“This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network,” it said, apologizing for the disruption and urging passengers to check with their airlines.
Heathrow resumed departures late on Sept. 8 but warned that disruption would continue.
Gatwick, Birmingham, Liverpool and Edinburgh were also affected, while dozens of flights were cancelled at Dublin Airport in Ireland.
British Airways said the disruption had affected tens of thousands of customers and would have a significant knock-on effect on its operations.
Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been affected and renewed its call for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to be dismissed.
Rolfe accepted “full responsibility” for the failure but declined to say whether he was considering resigning.
British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was due to meet Rolfe on Sept. 9. She said she was seeking assurances that lessons would be learned and that the systems supporting the country’s aviation network were fit for purpose.
Britain’s worst air traffic system failure in recent years occurred in 2023, when delays and cancellations affected more than 700,000 passengers.
