Passengers unlikely to get compensation as UK airports return to normal after days of flight chaos | The Independent (https://www.independent.co.uk/manifest.json) (https://www.independent.co.uk/img/shortcut-icons/favicon.ico) (https://www.independent.co.uk/img/shortcut-icons/icon-192x192.png) (https://www.independent.co.uk/img/shortcut-icons/icon-512x512.png) (https://www.independent.co.uk/img/shortcut-icons/icon-192x192.png) (https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Medium.woff2) (https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Medium-Italic.woff2) (https://cdn.taboola.com/) (uk-airport-delays-gatwick-heathrow-air-traffic-control-live-updates-b3046636.html) (uk-airport-delays-gatwick-heathrow-air-traffic-control-live-updates-b3046636.html) (https://www.the-independent.com/travel/news-and-advice/airport-chaos-heathrow-gatwick-air-traffic-control-update-b3047989.html) (https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Regular.woff2) (https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Regular-Italic.woff2) (https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Medium.woff2) Thank you for registering Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in (uk-airport-delays-gatwick-heathrow-air-traffic-control-live-updates-b3046636.html#main-content) Jump to content Open full menu US Edition (https://www.independent.co.uk/?editionSwitcherSource=independent.co.uk) UK Edition (https://www.independent.co.uk/asia?editionSwitcherSource=independent.co.uk) Asia Edition (https://www.independentespanol.com/?editionSwitcherSource=independent.co.uk) Edición en Español (https://www.independent.co.uk/) (https://www.independent.co.uk/login?regSourceMethod=Nav+register+CTA) Log in (https://www.independent.co.uk/login?regSourceMethod=Nav+register+CTA) Log in (https://www.independent.co.uk/us) News (https://www.independent.co.uk/sport) Sports (https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment) Culture (https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style) Lifestyle (https://www.independent.co.uk/us/money) Money (https://www.independent.co.uk/us/travel) Travel (https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium) Premium (https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change) Climate More Swipe for next article (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel) Travel (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice) News & Advice Passengers unlikely to get compensation as UK airports return to normal after days of flight chaos Around 100 flights were affected by cancellations on Thursday (https://www.independent.co.uk/author/natalie-wilson) Natalie Wilson Thursday 10 September 2026 21:55 BST Bookmark (uk-airport-delays-gatwick-heathrow-air-traffic-control-live-updates-b3046636.html#comments-area) Comments Go to comments Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks Close popover The Independent staff stuck at Heathrow amid widespread outages Your support helps us to tell the story Read more (https://www.independent.co.uk/donate?regSourceMethod=Donations) Support Now From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Airports in the UK are largely operating as scheduled following days of flight chaos due to an issue with (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/air-traffic-control) air traffic control . Around 2,163 flights were affected after National Air Traffic Services (Nats), the UK’s air traffic control provider, issued an alert over a (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/heathrow-gatwick-flight-delays-nats-traffic-control-b3047305.html) “technical issue” causing disruption on Tuesday, 8 September. Delays and cancellations continued on Wednesday at aviation hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester, as travellers attempted to reorganise flights. At least 300,000 passengers would have been impacted, based on the 30 per cent cancellation rate of flights, said aviation analytics firm Cirium. (Passengers waiting for flights and connections at the South terminal of Gatwick Airport on Wednesday) open image in gallery Passengers waiting for flights and connections at the South terminal of Gatwick Airport on Wednesday(Getty) The aviation disruption has stabilised as of Thursday evening, with just 54 of 3,028 scheduled arrivals cancelled or not operating – representing 1.78 per cent of all flights, it added. For departures, 47 of 3,033 scheduled flights are affected (1.55 per cent). This is only slightly higher than a normal day, says Cirium. (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/heathrow) Heathrow remains the most affected, with 23 arrivals and 12 departures cancelled today (Thursday, 10 September). Nats chief Martin Rolfe was summoned at lunchtime on Wednesday to see Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, to account for the disruption. It is the third major incident caused by a Nats system failure in three years, following significant issues in August 2023 and July 2025. Mr Rolfe has been given a week to collate a report on the reasons for the technical failure after the transport secretary said she did “not believe the issue was unavoidable”. (Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe) open image in gallery Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe(PA) He has come under significant scrutiny from airlines this week, including Wizz Air and BA. In a statement, Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon described Rolfe as an “overpaid failing” boss, and called for him to be sacked. Meanwhile, the (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/civil-aviation-authority) Civil Aviation Authority ((https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/caa) CAA ), which is conducting an independent review, has told passengers that the “disruption caused by the Nats outage is likely to be considered the result of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under passenger rights rules”. This means that affected passengers will (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flight-cancellations-delay-refunds-extraordinary-circumstances-passenger-rights-b3047782.html) unlikely to be entitled to compensation . Typically, the phrase is understood to mean “political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes”. Flights from the (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk) UK and EU airports (as well as those in the wider EEA) are usually subject to European rules. A cancellation, or even a delay of hours rather than minutes, could trigger the obligation for an airline to provide a hotel room and meals as appropriate. If the airline is to blame, it will also owe hundreds of pounds in cash. After Tuesday’s nationwide chaos, however, airlines will likely argue that the disruption was out of their control. Read more: (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/gatwick-heathrow-airport-flight-disruption-contingency-plans-nats-b3048510.html) Campbeds, snacks and baby food: Should airports have contingency plans for disruption? More about (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/air-traffic-control) air traffic control (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/civil-aviation-authority) Civil Aviation Authority (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/delays) delays (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/flights) Flights (https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/heathrow) Heathrow Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies (uk-airport-delays-gatwick-heathrow-air-traffic-control-live-updates-b3046636.html#comments-area) Comments Most popular Popular videos Bulletin Read next (https://www.independent.co.uk/) (https://www.independent.co.uk/) Get in touch (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/contact-us-759589.html) Contact us (https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentOnline) (https://twitter.com/Independent) (https://www.independent.co.uk/) Our Products (https://www.independent.co.uk/register?itm_channel=native&itm_campaign=footer&itm_content=register®SourceMethod=Footer+register+CTA) Register (https://www.independent.co.uk/newsletters?itm_channel=native&itm_campaign=footer&itm_audience=prospecting&itm_content=newsletters) Newsletters (https://www.independent.co.uk/donate?itm_channel=native&itm_campaign=footer&itm_audience=prospecting&itm_content=donate) Donate (https://edition.independent.co.uk/) Today’s Edition (https://www.independent.co.uk/subscribe/app?itm_channel=native&itm_campaign=app_selling_page&itm_audience=prospecting&itm_content=footer) Install our app (https://www.independent.co.uk/archive) Archive (https://www.independent.co.uk/) Other publications (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/journalism-license-srmg-middle-east-news-world-global-a9579111.html) International editions (https://www.independentespanol.com/) Independent en Español (https://www.independentarabia.com/) Independent Arabia (https://www.indyturk.com/) Independent Turkish (https://www.independentpersian.com/) Independent Persian (https://www.independenturdu.com/) Independent Urdu (https://www.standard.co.uk/) The Standard (https://www.independent.co.uk/) Extras (https://puzzles.independent.co.uk/) Puzzles (https://www.independent.co.uk/topics-list) All topics (https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/betting-sign-up-offers-and-free-bets-b2581138.html) Free bets offers (https://www.independent.co.uk/deals) Latest deals (https://www.independent.co.uk/competitions) Competitions and offers (https://www.independentadvertising.com/) Independent Advertising (https://www.independent.co.uk/ignite) Independent Ignite (https://www.independentadvertising.com/licensing-and-syndication/) Syndication (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-independent/jobs/) Working at The Independent (https://www.independent.co.uk/) Legal (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/code-of-conduct-a6184241.html) Code of conduct and complaints (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/external-contributors-policy-7905982.html) Contributors (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) Cookie policy (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/contributions-terms-and-conditions-a9308071.html) Donations Terms & Conditions (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-notice-a6184181.html) Privacy policy (https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) User policies (https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/IND-Modern-Slavery-Statement-2024.pdf) Modern Slavery Statement Thank you for registering Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in (Google Tag Manager - No Script)