A technical fault in NATS’ flight-processing system on 8 September caused major disruption across the UK aviation network, forcing more than 1,000 flight cancellations and multiple long-haul diversions from Heathrow. Two Emirates Airbus A380s were rerouted to Düsseldorf and Munich, while other inbound flights were sent to Frankfurt, Vienna, Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart and Zurich as Heathrow arrivals were heavily constrained.
Singapore Airlines also diverted one A380 from Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle and another to Munich, with return services to Singapore cancelled as aircraft and crews were displaced. NATS restored the system later in the day but recovery took longer than expected, leaving airlines and airports to work through a substantial backlog into the following day. Heathrow saw 70 diversions by the end of Tuesday, including 17 aircraft sent to Germany, Austria or Switzerland.