Ryanair reveals more than 1,000 flights cancelled after UK air traffic chaos

Ryanair says it has cancelled more than 1,000 flights scheduled for September 2026 after a string of UK air traffic control failures. The budget carrier blamed two disruptions in a fortnight involving National Air Traffic Services (NATS) systems, with the situation worsened by staff strikes among Belgian air traffic controllers and volcanic ash clouds from Mount Etna. The cancellations contrast with Ryanair’s overall activity for the month: 20.1 million passengers across more than 111,700 flights, up 4% year-on-year. Rival Wizz Air reported 7.78 million passengers, up 24%, but said it will cut late-year capacity by 5% due to jet fuel prices and Middle East conflict pressures. The figures follow major outages, including a Sept. 8 NATS system failure that grounded 1,300 flights across UK airports and a later Prestwick connectivity glitch.