ANGER mounted last night as it emerged 500,000 passengers had so far been caught up in the air traffic control meltdown and experts warned of three weeks of knock-on effects.
Thousands had to sleep on terminal floors among piles of suitcases as flights continued to be axed, hotels ripped off stranded tourists and the Civil Aviation Authority warned compensation was “unlikely”.
500,000 passengers have so far been caught up in the air traffic control meltdown Credit: PA
Experts warned of three weeks of knock-on effects Credit: w8media
Many continued to point the finger at National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which serves 15 UK airports — but its boss, Martin Rolfe, was clinging to his job despite a hat-trick of humiliating bungles.
One desperate passenger at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 spoke for many when he said: “It’s chaos here. You can’t believe this can keep happening in Britain in 2026.”
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By last night, more than 2,000 flights had been grounded since problems began at about 2pm on Tuesday.
BA alone said it had cancelled 550 flights, affecting more than 85,000 customers.
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Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been disrupted so far, with 250 flights axed due to what was described as a technical glitch at the Nats Swanwick Centre nerve centre in Hampshire.
The extent of the problems was clear from exclusive photos shared with The Jattvibe of rows of abandoned suitcases lining the floor of Heathrow Terminal 5’s baggage hall.
At Gatwick, “tempers frayed” as hundreds of abandoned passengers tried to retrieve their luggage, while at Stansted in Essex exhausted passengers slept where they could.
Among the many put out by the mayhem were newlyweds Sasha and James from South London.
They were due to honeymoon in Madeira but their flight from Gatwick was axed.
Sasha said: “We spent three hours in Wetherspoons. It feels like our whole honeymoon will be at Gatwick.”
Phil White, meanwhile, sat for four hours on an EasyJet flight before the airline axed his flight to Lanzarote.
At Heathrow, engineer Felix Abrams, 29, had hoped to fly to Beijing to visit his girlfriend’s family.
He said the way he was treated had been “demeaning” and there was “a complete shirking of responsibility”.
He asked: “How was the airport not prepared for this? This failure has happened before. We were told nothing.”
By last night, more than 2,000 flights had been grounded since problems began at about 2pm on Tuesday Credit: Doug Seeburg
Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been disrupted so far, with 250 flights axed due to what was described as a techical glitch at the Nats site in Swanwick Centre in Hants Credit: Getty
At the airport’s Terminal 4, where passengers slept on yoga mats, Patrick Weston, 45, of Enfield, North London, had hoped to fly to Sweden.
He said: “It’s absolute chaos here. You can’t believe this can keep happening in Britain in 2026 with all the technology we have. This was a mini-break for me. I’ve no idea what is happening. There’s a feeling of helplessness.”
Paul Willows, 52, said his family spent the night sleeping on the floor of a hotel in Rhodes with 80 strangers after their flight to East Midlands Airport was cancelled.
Alan Jones and Kelly Fewery, from Blackpool, also got “very little sleep” after spending the night stuck at Turkey’s Dalaman Airport.
Several A-list stars were also put out. Aussie actress Rebel Wilson. 46, looked exhausted at Heathrow.
She had to abandon her flight plans and told fans she was “escaping” the airport. Model and actress Elizabeth Hurley, 61, and her son Damian, 24, also looked weary.
Sherlock Holmes star Benedict Cumberbatch, 50, and Olivia Attwood, 35, were also seen among the frustrated crowds.
Sky Sports Formula 1 broadcaster Martin Brundle said he was stuck on a plane at Heathrow for nine hours. He tweeted: “Great work BA and Heathrow . . . mother and baby and a person with a medical condition desperate to get off.
“As is everyone else. Toilets no longer available as blocked.”
Passengers blasted airport hotels for cashing in on the crisis.
Standard £130 rooms were being sold for up to £750 on Tuesday and only a few rooms remained last night at sky-high prices — such as £640 for two at a Radisson.
The chaos follows disruption to 700,000 UK airport passengers in 2023 as flights were grounded following a technical glitch when Nats processed a flight plan.
Photos shared with The Jattvibe of rows of abandoned suitcases lining the floor of Heathrow Terminal 5’s baggage hall
Exhausted and frustrated passengers find anyway to get comfy for a long night ahead Credit: Bav Media
And in July last year a “radar- related issue” caused an air traffic control failure that grounded flights, disrupting thousands of passengers and forcing the cancellation of more than 160 services.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the Commons Nats boss Mr Rolfe had told her a technical issue sparked the latest problems.
She said: “While my understanding from Nats is we can rule out a cyber attack on this occasion, I do not believe this issue was unavoidable.”
She said she raised “significant concerns” with him and ordered an explanation but he held on to his £1.5million-a-year role.
Mr Rolfe dodged questions over whether he would quit.
He said: “Things do go wrong in complex systems. We always hope they won’t, but we absolutely plan for them to and make sure we handle them properly.”
Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s chief operating officer, said Mr Rolfe should accept the blame.
He said: “How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure Martin Rolfe accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns?
Latest from the main airports impacted:
Heathrow – The UK’s busiest airport says its operations are “recovering” with flights operating but “knock-on disruption” is expected
Gatwick – Flights have resumed but it will “take time” for operations to fully return to normal
Glasgow – Operations are “recovering” but “ongoing disruption” expected
Manchester – The airport is operating “as normal” with no additional disruption reported
Birmingham – There remains a “minimal knock-on effect” and there may be some disruption
Bristol – Flights are “mostly back to normal” with a “small number of delays and cancellations”
Stansted – Operating as normal
Cardiff – Operating as normal
“Over three years after Nats’ catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it’s clear that nothing has changed.
“UK passengers have suffered once again from avoidable air traffic control delays. . . due a critical Nats ATC system failing.”
EasyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis said: “Customers are once again bearing the brunt of Nats’ shortcomings. It simply isn’t good enough.”
A British Airways spokesman added: “While this incident has been completely outside our control, we don’t underestimate the impact it’s had on the tens of thousands of our customers who faced disruption yesterday and today. We’re very sorry.”
Four tips to help you claim back compensation if your flight is delayed or cancelled
MORE than seven million of us are expected to fly to European holiday spots this summer.
As peak holiday season hits, some delays are unavoidable.
If you’re one of those whose flight is disrupted, knowing your rights will help you claim back compensation.
GROUNDED: If your flight is cancelled less than 14 days before you fly, you are entitled to a new flight or refund and possibly compensation.
This applies to flights departing from a UK or EU airport, regardless of airline, and to flights arriving at a UK or EU airport, if operated by a UK or EU airline. In other cases, you’ll probably be entitled to a refund or an alternative flight, but you may not get compensation.
LATE LEAVING: Again, for EU or UK flights or airlines, if your arrival is delayed by more than three hours, you’re usually entitled to compensation — unless the delay was caused by circumstances beyond the airline’s control, like severe weather or air traffic control strikes.
Email or phone the airline, providing flight details and booking references, as well as the length of the delay. The amount you’ll get depends on the delay length and journey distance.
MEAL MATHS: If a flight is delayed by at least two hours for short flights or three hours for medium-distance, or four hours for long-haul, the airline must provide free meals and refreshments.
If the delay means you have to stay overnight, the airline must provide hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel.
If it doesn’t provide these and you end up paying for food, a hotel or transport yourself, keep all receipts so you can claim back reasonable expenses later.
PAPER TRAIL: Airlines often dispute compensation, so arm yourself with clear evidence.
Take photos of delay announcements on departure boards, and gate changes.
Keep emails, text alerts and boarding passes.
You can claim for delays that happened up to six years ago.
Air travel expert Julian Bray predicted the disruption to air traffic was likely “to go on for a good three weeks”.
He said he expected it would happen again due to the Nats’ “legacy computer set-up”.
Shadow Transport Minister Greg Smith said: “Yet again passengers are stuck on the tarmac wondering why Britain cannot keep its own skies open.”
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said airlines must still look after stranded travellers, but warned that compensation is unlikely.
It expects the outage is likely to be classed as an “extraordinary circumstance” under passenger rights rules, meaning airlines avoid payouts.
The CAA also confirmed that it had launched an investigation into what exactly caused the fault which sparked widespread disruption.
