A major technical failure in the UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight processing system caused severe disruption across Irish airports on Tuesday, leading to dozens of cancelled flights and widespread delays for passengers.

At Dublin Airport, airport operator DAA confirmed that 23 outbound and 21 inbound flights had been cancelled by 5:00 pm, with the total disruption rising to 43 departures and 30 arrivals later in the evening. Cork Airport reported that nine flights in and out of the hub were cancelled, while passengers at Shannon Airport were also affected by delays as airlines managed knock-on scheduling backlogs.

NATS acknowledged the technical fault in its flight processing system early on Tuesday afternoon, which forced air traffic flow restrictions across UK airspace and disrupted major international hubs including London Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Edinburgh. The service implemented a technical fix by late afternoon and confirmed by 7:30 pm that systems were fully restored and operating normally, though clearing the backlog of grounded aircraft would take time.

The system failure triggered widespread disruption for international carriers operating in the region. Irish budget airline Ryanair reported that over 50 of its flights were cancelled, affecting more than 65,000 passengers across its network. Airport operators and airlines advised travelling passengers to continue checking flight statuses directly with their carriers before departing for the airport.