Thousands of air passengers were caught in chaos following a four-hour shutdown of the UK's air traffic control system on Tuesday. This disruption led to cancelled holidays and significant financial losses for some travellers.
Catie and Phil Allen, for example, had their flight to Slovenia cancelled and, despite receiving a refund for their flight from British Airways, estimate being £1,300 out of pocket for separately booked accommodation and excursions. Airlines are not required to pay additional compensation in this instance, as the air traffic control issues were beyond their control.
Aviation Minister Keir Mather stated on Thursday that the disruption caused by the failure of air traffic control provider Nats was "unacceptable." The Civil Aviation Authority will conduct an independent review of the incident.
Flight data firm Cirium reported that the aviation system had "stabilised significantly" by Thursday, with 54 of 3,028 scheduled arrivals and 47 of 3,033 scheduled departures affected.