On July 30, 2025, Gatwick Airport and several other major UK airports faced significant travel disruption due to a technical failure in the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS). The incident, which unfolded during the peak of the summer travel season, was linked to a radar-related malfunction at the Swanwick air traffic control centre, forcing NATS to restrict the volume of aircraft within UK airspace, particularly around London’s congested control zone.
What Happened at Gatwick on July 30, 2025?
A technical glitch involving NATS radar systems temporarily impacted real-time aircraft tracking and coordination, prompting emergency safety protocols that resulted in a deliberate slowdown in UK air traffic. Although the technical failure reportedly lasted only 20 minutes, the domino effect on air traffic was immediate and severe.
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Outbound flights from Gatwick Airport were among the hardest hit, with delays cascading through the afternoon and evening.
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Inbound aircraft had to circle or divert to alternate airports, including Heathrow, Luton, and Stansted.
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Thousands of passengers faced extended waiting times, missed connections, and cancelled holidays, as airlines scrambled to manage operations in the wake of the incident.
The Role of the Swanwick Air Traffic Control Centre
The Swanwick centre is one of the UK’s most critical components in managing en-route and terminal air traffic operations. When the fault occurred:
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Radar data became unreliable, leading to a loss of system integrity.
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NATS was forced to switch to backup systems, and limit aircraft movements to ensure safe separation distances.
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The manual procedures required during this time significantly reduced capacity across one of the busiest stretches of controlled airspace in the world.
This redundancy protocol, while essential for safety, resulted in a dramatic slowdown of departures and arrivals at key airports.
Gatwick Airport: The Impact on Operations
Gatwick is the second-busiest airport in the UK and the eighth-busiest in Europe. The timing of the outage—during the height of the summer getaway period—exacerbated its impact.
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Hundreds of flights were delayed or grounded as Gatwick’s control tower worked in coordination with NATS.
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Airlines such as EasyJet, British Airways, and Ryanair were forced to cancel or reassign flights, leading to overflowing terminals, tired crews, and frustrated passengers.
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Reports indicated up to 60% of scheduled flights at Gatwick faced some form of delay.
Airlines were instructed to reduce turnaround times and prioritize long-haul operations, but even by evening, the airfield remained congested, and runway activity was still below capacity.
The Broader Fallout Across the UK’s Airspace
While Gatwick bore the brunt of the disruption, other airports within the London Flight Information Region (FIR) were also affected.
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Heathrow Airport, handling the highest traffic volume in the UK, had to delay multiple departures to accommodate slower sequencing.
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Luton and Stansted were used for emergency diversions.
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Airports outside London, including Manchester and Birmingham, reported delays for flights inbound from or transiting southern UK airspace.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Department for Transport (DfT) have since confirmed that no aircraft were ever at risk, thanks to fail-safe engineering and rapid response protocols within the NATS infrastructure.
Passenger Experience: Delays, Confusion, and Rebooking Chaos
Travellers at Gatwick faced a range of logistical nightmares:
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Digital departure boards showed unclear or outdated flight statuses.
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Queues at airline customer service desks stretched for hours as passengers sought alternative connections or compensation.
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Families with children, elderly passengers, and those with disabilities reported a lack of information or support during the wait.
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Many travellers took to social media to express frustration, with calls for greater investment in system resilience and real-time passenger communications.
Airline Response: Criticism and Calls for Reform
Major airlines wasted no time in condemning the incident. Ryanair, in particular, issued a statement highlighting that this was the second major NATS outage in two years and questioned the robustness of the UK’s air traffic management infrastructure.
Key criticisms included:
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Lack of redundancy in software systems
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Failure to modernise core ATC infrastructure
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Inefficient communication during operational crises
Airlines have urged the UK government and CAA to investigate the root causes and implement regulatory reform to avoid repeat incidents, especially in light of the record travel volumes expected in 2025 and beyond.
Was It a Cyberattack? Understanding the Cause
Despite public concern and online speculation, NATS has confirmed the glitch was not the result of a cyberattack. Instead, it originated from:
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A software malfunction within radar processing systems
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An internal data corruption issue that caused temporary failure in tracking aircraft metadata
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System sensors reporting inconsistent positional information, requiring immediate manual intervention
The post-incident technical report from NATS will be reviewed in cooperation with international aviation safety bodies, including EUROCONTROL and ICAO.
Timeline of Events on July 30, 2025
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12:30 PM BST – Radar anomalies are detected at Swanwick.
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12:45 PM – Aircraft separation procedures switch to manual control.
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1:00 PM – NATS issues NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) limiting London airspace traffic volume.
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1:20 PM – Technical fault isolated and being resolved.
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1:45 PM – Radar data restored; systems transitioning back to standard protocols.
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2:30 PM onwards – Flights begin to resume under normal parameters, with delays cascading into the evening.
Looking Ahead: Preventing Future Failures
In the aftermath, aviation stakeholders have renewed calls for:
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Immediate system resilience upgrades
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Greater public accountability and transparency
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Investment in AI-powered predictive diagnostics for air traffic systems
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Expansion of regional airspace control capabilities to decentralise risk
The UK Government has pledged to review NATS funding models, with a specific focus on technology replacement cycles and cyber-physical incident response frameworks.
