Fury as passengers hit by UK flight chaos 'unlikely to get compensation'

Passengers have been warned they may not be entitled to compensation following a major air traffic control failure that disrupted more than 330,000 journeys across the UK this week.Passengers at London airports reported being kept on aircraft on the tarmac for hours before being allowed to disembark on Tuesday, while some said they were left without food or water, as others waited anxiously near noticeboards for travel updates.With nearby hotels selling out amid the widespread disruption, some families said they had little choice but to sleep at the airport while awaiting further information from their airlines.Now passengers face another blow, after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said those affected by the outage may not be entitled to compensation.Passengers wait for flights and connections at the South terminal of Gatwick AirportGettySome travellers might have expected to get payouts of up to £520 for lengthy delays or cancellations.But airlines are unlikely to have to pay out as the incident is expected to be put down to “extraordinary circumstances” under passenger rights rules.The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Wednesday said passengers are “unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident”.A CAA spokesperson said: “We know many passengers have faced significant disruption and frustration following the Nats system issue on Tuesday September 8 and we understand the impact this has had on their travel plans.”They added: “We consider that disruption caused by the Nats outage is likely to be considered the result of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under passenger rights rules.Read More“This means that although passengers should be looked after by airlines, they are unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident.”Taking to social media on Wednesday, passengers questioned the decision to potentially not offer compensation to those affected by the outage.Passengers at Heathrow Airport during disruption after a system issue hit NatsPA Wire“But there needs to be compensation,” one person said, “these issues cause enormous personal distress.”Another person said: “Can't believe Ryanair won't offer compensation on our flight from Nice to Stansted which was delayed by 4 HOURS.“It was caused by air-traffic control issues, but a delay of 4 hours significantly impacts other travel plans/bookings at the arrival end.“Surely that's not right?’.”Another added: “I don't see how my arrival flight into LHR yesterday, that was stuck on the tarmac for 5 hours, doesn't qualify for the later arrival compensation?”.Over 1,300 flights were cancelled on Tuesday alone, making it one of the most severe airspace disruptions since the 2023 system meltdown. Although the technical fault was resolved by Tuesday evening, severe network displacement rolled over into Wednesday.According to Cirium, the aviation analytics company, 2,145 flights have been affected over the last two days.It said a total of 399 flights were cancelled or did not fly on Wednesday. The worst affected airport was London Heathrow, which saw 79 out of a total of 666 departure flights affected.A system issue hit Nats, which provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports PA WireBritish Airways said the fault had forced it to cancel almost 550 of its flights, which had impacted more than 85,000 passengers over the last two days.The airline said it was “incredibly sorry” to its customers and said the issues raised by the technical failure must be addressed as a “matter of urgency”.A spokesperson said: “We’ve heard reassurances before, but then we’re faced with issues like this yet again.“Our customers and colleagues are tired of dealing with these issues, time after time. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.“Over the coming days, we’ll continue doing everything we can until every affected customer is on their way.”BA staff volunteered to work at its call centres and flying operations, and on Wednesday the airline plans to operate a full long-haul programme out of Heathrow and a full operation from Gatwick, it is understood.Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs on Wednesday afternoon that she did not believe the air traffic control issue was “unavoidable”.She has asked the CAA to conduct an independent review into the incident, which is due to report to her within six months.Passengers wait for flights and connections at the South terminal of Gatwick AirportGettyAddressing the Commons today, Ms Alexander said: “A four-hour air traffic outage yesterday left hundreds of thousands of passengers facing cancellations, diversions, and delays.“I would like to apologise wholeheartedly to passengers for this disruption.“We often take for granted the way in which our aviation system just works, but yesterday that was not the case.“Safety must remain air traffic controllers’ overriding priority, and this morning I have spoken to Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe, who informed me this outage was due to a technical issue at their Swanwick site.“So, while my understanding from Nats is that we can rule out a cyber attack on this occasion, I do not believe this issue was unavoidable.“We also spoke this morning about how Nats responded to resolve and minimise the disruption as quickly as possible, and I am grateful to the airports and airlines who responded straight away.”Nats also said a full investigation will be conducted into the issue.Meanwhile, Airlines UK has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, to register serious concerns over yesterday’s technical failure at NATS.Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, said: “The latest NATS failure has again exposed a gap in the UK’s aviation regulatory framework. Airlines are expected, in supporting passengers, to absorb the costs of disruption, even when the cause lies entirely outside their control.“The result is a system where airlines pick up the bill for the mistakes of others, while the organisations responsible face little or no financial consequence. Accountability should sit where responsibility lies and the Civil Aviation Bill offers the opportunity to address this.”