A passenger sleeps on the floor with luggage at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, London, Britain, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
LONDON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 2,000 flights were canceled in Britain on Tuesday and Wednesday due to a technical issue, with Heathrow being the worst-hit airport, according to British media.
The affected passengers "are unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident," said a statement issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Wednesday.
Cancellations were slowing Wednesday evening and none is scheduled for Thursday, according to the aviation analytics firm Cirium.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said on Tuesday afternoon that it identified a technical issue with its flight processing system, disrupting departures across the country and causing delays and cancellations.
The 4-hour air traffic outage on Tuesday "left hundreds of thousands of passengers facing cancellations, diversions, and delays," said Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on Wednesday.
"I do not believe this issue was unavoidable," she said, ordering an independent investigation by CAA into the system operated by NATS.
Martin Rolfe, chief executive officer of NATS, said a cyberattack was ruled out as the cause of the disruption. ■
Passengers wait with their luggage at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, London, Britain, Sept. 9, 2026.
Up to 1,300 flights were canceled to and from airports in Britain on Tuesday, and 177 flights have been canceled so far on Wednesday, nearly all at London's Heathrow Airport, according to air traffic tracker Flightradar24.
Flights were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider NATS, according to multiple media reports. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
A passenger sleeps on the floor at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, London, Britain, Sept. 9, 2026.
Up to 1,300 flights were canceled to and from airports in Britain on Tuesday, and 177 flights have been canceled so far on Wednesday, nearly all at London's Heathrow Airport, according to air traffic tracker Flightradar24.
Flights were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider NATS, according to multiple media reports. (Xinhua/Li Ying)
Passengers wait with their luggage at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, London, Britain, Sept. 9, 2026.
Up to 1,300 flights were canceled to and from airports in Britain on Tuesday, and 177 flights have been canceled so far on Wednesday, nearly all at London's Heathrow Airport, according to air traffic tracker Flightradar24.
Flights were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider NATS, according to multiple media reports. (Xinhua/Li Ying)