Skip to main content

Airline industry called to account by MPs over August bank holiday chaos

Government
Gary Noakes
16 October 2023

Airlines, air traffic control and regulators have been summoned to explain the August bank holiday flight chaos at a meeting of parliament’s transport committee next week.

Air Traffic Control iStock-147708625 (Credit: iStock)

Airlines and airports face issues with the outage at Swanwick (Credit: iStock)

Carriers will join air traffic control provider Nats and CAA officials on 18 October for a one-off call for evidence regarding the disruption at the end of August.

The committee said: “On 28 August, Nats software was unable to extract the UK portion of a flight plan and suspended automatic flight processing for six hours – causing delays and cancellations for over 250,000 customers across the bank holiday. 

“Nats staff shortages at London Gatwick airport also caused disruption over the summer period, including hundreds of cancellations in September.”