easyJet has criticised NATS after a technical failure at its Prestwick air traffic control centre disrupted flights across the UK, forcing cancellations and delays in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. The airline said the latest outage once again called into question the resilience of the system, as the incident added to pressure on UK air traffic control after another major disruption earlier this month.
NATS linked the problem to a connectivity issue at Prestwick and later restored operations to full capacity, although knock-on delays continued through the day. easyJet was among the worst affected carriers, with multiple departures cancelled, and the wider disruption also hit British Airways and other operators. The Civil Aviation Authority is already carrying out an independent review into UK air traffic control resilience, while the latest failure renewed scrutiny of backup arrangements and operational robustness across the network. Compensation may be limited because the CAA treated the disruption as an extraordinary circumstance.