- Flight operations at UK airports have largely stabilised following days of widespread disruption caused by a Nats air traffic control system failure on Tuesday 8 September.
- An estimated 300,000 passengers and over 2,100 flights were affected by the outage, with London Heathrow remaining the most impacted airport.
- Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has given Nats chief Martin Rolfe one week to produce a report into the technical failure, stating she believes the issue was not unavoidable.
- Airlines have voiced strong criticism, with Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon calling for Mr Rolfe to be sacked following the third major Nats system incident in three years.
- The Civil Aviation Authority indicated the outage is likely to be classed as extraordinary circumstances, meaning affected passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation.
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