Business travellers reported significant disruption at London Gatwick (LGW) on the morning of 16 October 2026 after a technical fault in the UK’s air-traffic control flow-management system forced ground delays of up to 90 minutes. Local media tallied at least six easyJet departures postponed and one UR Airlines arrival from Erbil cancelled, with delays peaking between 08:00 and 11:00 BST. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) confirmed a software reset at its Swanwick centre but said safety was never compromised. Normal operations resumed by early afternoon. While relatively contained, the incident is a reminder of the wider business-continuity risks highlighted by the nationwide ATC outage in August 2025. Companies with tight connection windows or same-day meetings should build slack into itineraries and ensure employees know their airline’s ‘duty of care’ entitlements. Travellers connecting onwards from Gatwick to Dublin, Amsterdam and Geneva reported missed meetings due to cascading delays. Mobility managers may wish to revisit policies on same-day international travel via LGW during the autumn peak, when fog and strike action can further strain capacity. NATS said a full investigation will be completed within 10 days, with findings shared across UK airports to prevent recurrence.
Source: Sussex Express
