Hundreds more flights cancelled as transport secretary apologises for air traffic control fault
Hundreds of flights around the UK have been cancelled after yesterday’s air traffic control disruption, as the transport secretary apologised for the fault – saying issues on this scale “haven’t happened for a decade”.
The incident on Bank Holiday Monday meant flight plans had to be uploaded to systems manually, slowing or cancelling air traffic across the country.
Thousands of passengers were affected by yesterday’s disruption – and many are still waiting for their flights into today.
Some 790 departures and 785 arrivals at UK airports were cancelled on Monday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium – around 27% of all scheduled flights in and out of the country.
Britons sleeping on floors in airports – live updates
Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary criticised the UK NATS in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday afternoon, saying it was “not acceptable” the system had gone down without a backup.
“We still haven’t had an explanation from them [about] what exactly caused this failure, and where were their backup systems?
“It’s simply not acceptable that UK NATS would allow their systems to be taken down and everybody’s flights get cancelled.”
He added 250 flights were cancelled by his airline on Monday, and another 70 flights would be cancelled until the end of the day on Tuesday.
Mark Harper stressed that technical experts have ruled out a cybersecurity incident, with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) set to investigate.
“Something on this scale hasn’t happened for almost a decade – normally the system works very well,” Mr Harper told Sky News.
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PM: ‘Passengers have rights’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Mr Harper would remind airlines about their responsibilities to passengers hit by air traffic control disruption, telling reporters: “I know people will be enormously frustrated by the disruption that’s impacting them.
Mr Sunak added: “The transport secretary is in constant dialogue with all the industry participants, he will be talking to airlines specifically later today and making sure that they support passengers to get home as quickly as possible.”
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Hundreds ‘stranded in shocking conditions’
Flights are running – but there are warnings of cancellations and delays
There have been reports of heated scenes at airports across Europe, with “fists flying” in Palma as exasperated tourists struggle to return home, while others sleep out in airports in the hope of catching a new flight.
Heathrow Airport says services will remain disrupted today – and passengers are being urged to contact their airline before heading to the terminal.
More than 60 flights have been cancelled at the west London airport – made up of at least 32 departures and 31 arrivals.
Elsewhere, London Gatwick said it plans to operate a normal schedule on Tuesday following the disruption, though at least 23 departures and 51 arrivals were listed as cancelled at the airport.
Outside of London, most airports appear to be returning to a normal schedule, with Glasgow saying a handful of flights will be disrupted as a result of Monday’s issue, while departure boards at Manchester and Bristol airports show a small number of services have been cancelled.
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Passengers left stranded
‘I don’t like the ending to this story’
Travellers from the UK have reported disruption both in the UK and abroad – with some saying they may not be able to fly until the weekend.
TV host Ore Oduba posted on Instagram saying his cancelled easyJet flight from Greece left them “stranded” with no supplies for their two toddlers, mocking the voucher they had been offered from the airline.
Meanwhile, athletes and broadcasters who have been out at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, have also reported delays, with sport presenter Jeanette Kwakye writing on X, formerly known as Twitter: “No idea when I’ll be back, any suggestions for ways home that don’t involve 36 hours of travelling or endangering my life are welcome.”
She added: “I don’t like the ending to this story.”
The election of a pro-crypto President in the United States and growing macroeconomic turmoil will continue to drive investors to Bitcoin.
Politics
Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.
The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.
Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.
Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”
He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.
“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.
And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.
‘PM should have addressed the protesters’
Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.
He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.
He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.
“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.
“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”
Read more:
Ex-Labour adviser suggests doing to farms ‘what Thatcher did to coal mines’
Farmers ‘could block ports and disrupt food supply’
Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.
But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.
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The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.
The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.
To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.
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