The disruption at NATS caused widespread flight delays across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England, prompting the airport chief executive to call it an incredibly disappointing failure that signals the need for systemic change.

NATS said airports south of Manchester largely avoided disruption, while northern destinations and Scottish hubs faced delays; passengers were advised to check with their airlines.

Dewar labeled the Prestwick control centre issue as a national infrastructure failure that lacks robustness and warned of ripple effects delaying subsequent flights.

Officials noted the incident was separate from a prior outage two weeks earlier and are working to restore normal operations and minimize disruption.

NATS and government should ensure no repeat of these errors and restore airline schedules as quickly as possible.

Efforts are under way to manage the disruption, assist affected passengers, and return airlines to their schedules with hopes for a resolution later in the day.

First Minister John Swinney acknowledged the disruption, pressed for resilience in air traffic control, and said authorities will engage with NATS to ensure reliability and sufficient resistance to issues.

Swinney stressed the need for resilient, reliable air traffic control systems and indicated ongoing discussions with NATS and the government to secure lasting improvements.

He reiterated the importance of resilience and promised continued engagement with NATS and authorities to achieve lasting improvements.

The incident marks another notable NATS failure within weeks, fueling calls for upgrades to national air traffic infrastructure and operational resilience.

NATS apologized for the disruption and stated the issue was unrelated to the outage from two weeks earlier.

Passengers at Edinburgh Airport faced hours-long delays and knock-on effects, including missed connections and extended travel times as examples of the disruption’s practical impact.