A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declined to confirm continued confidence in Martin Rolfe, chief executive of National Air Traffic Services (NATS), following another major disruption to air traffic across Scotland and the north of England.
The disruption began this morning at the NATS Prestwick Centre in Ayrshire, Scotland, leading to approximately 200 flight cancellations across the UK. The “technical issue” was first reported shortly after 09:00, although pan-European air traffic management coordinator Eurocontrol is understood to have been aware of the problem considerably earlier.
NATS said the disruption was caused by a “connectivity issue”, which has since been resolved.
Asked by Sky News whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in Rolfe, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson said that a review was “still ongoing” with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP.
The latest incident has also prompted renewed criticism from the UK airline sector. Airlines UK, which represents UK-registered carriers, has questioned the resilience of the country’s air traffic control infrastructure.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: “The UK’s ATC system is critical national infrastructure, and it must be resilient enough to keep people moving. Passengers and airlines deserve better.”
The Prestwick disruption comes just weeks after another major NATS-related incident caused widespread problems across UK airspace. That earlier event, which occurred earlier this month, resulted in more than 2,000 flights being cancelled.
Major airlines and airports have reportedly been “lining up to criticise” NATS, with the latest failure marking the second significant disruption linked to the UK air traffic control provider in only two weeks.
The financial impact of failures within the UK air traffic control system has also been significant. A major incident in 2023 was estimated to have cost airlines around GBP100 million. Investigators subsequently linked that failure to engineers working from home.
A separate radar-related problem in July last year caused further disruption, with more than 150 flights cancelled.
NATS oversees air traffic movements across UK airspace and parts of the North Atlantic, including key routes connecting the UK and Europe with the United States, Canada and other long-haul destinations.
