Potential flight delays as air traffic control issue hits UK once again

Passengers travelling to and from the Isle of Man are being warned they could face delays today following a technical issue affecting UK air traffic control.

Isle of Man Airport has issued a warning to passengers travelling on Monday, September 21, advising them to check the latest status of their flight with their airline before setting off.

The issue is affecting NATS operations at its Prestwick centre in Scotland, where engineers are investigating the problem.

NATS said traffic restrictions had been introduced to maintain safety while the issue was being dealt with.

It said: ‘We are investigating a technical issue at our Prestwick centre in Scotland.

‘To maintain safety, air traffic regulations have been applied to manage traffic demand.’

NATS said airports south of Manchester were ‘broadly unaffected’, but flights heading north and those departing Scottish airports were currently subject to some delays.

The Isle of Man Airport said: ‘Passengers travelling today (21/09/2026) should be aware that an issue affecting UK air traffic control may result in delays to some flights.

‘Please check the latest status of your flight with your airline before travelling.

‘We’ll provide further updates if needed.’

At the time of writing, three flights on the airport’s departures board are showing as delayed, with services to London Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester all facing minor delays.

The latest disruption comes less than two weeks after a separate technical incident affected the NATS London Area Control Centre on September 8.

That incident resulted in temporary restrictions being imposed across parts of the UK airspace network and caused widespread disruption to flights.

NATS subsequently confirmed the September 8 incident was caused by a software defect in part of its National Airspace System.

Today’s issue is separate from that incident.

EasyJet has criticised the latest disruption, saying that the second incident in a matter of weeks ‘calls into question the resilience of NATS’ systems’ and demonstrates the need for ‘firm actions’ to prevent similar failures from happening again.

NATS is the UK’s leading provider of air traffic control services and manages aircraft movements through UK airspace, as well as providing services at a number of airports. It handles more than 2.5 million flights each year.

Passengers are advised to check directly with their airline for the latest information about individual flights.