A technical issue at the Prestwick air traffic control centre in South Ayrshire has been fixed, but widespread flight delays and cancellations continue as airlines and airports work through a substantial backlog.

The Prestwick facility, operated by the National Air Traffic Service (Nats), manages airspace across Scotland and the north of England. Specialist engineers resolved the fault earlier today, and Nats confirmed it is now working directly with airports and airlines to lift flow restrictions safely.

"The issue in our Prestwick centre is now fixed," a Nats spokesperson said. "We are working with airports and airlines to safely lift air traffic regulations as quickly as we can to minimise any further disruption. Passengers should still check the status of their flight with their airline. We apologise for the disruption."

Nats clarified that the failure is unrelated to the separate software defect that caused the cancellation of 2,000 UK flights earlier this month.

Despite the fix, the knock-on impact has disrupted operations at major and regional hubs. A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport confirmed it is experiencing delays and monitoring the situation closely alongside Nats. Airport operator AGS, which runs Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Southampton airports, noted that services are seeing delays—primarily at Glasgow Airport—and warned that knock-on disruption will continue.

Manchester Airports Group reported delays of up to an hour on some flights at Manchester Airport, alongside disruption at East Midlands Airport. Further delays and cancellations have been recorded at Belfast City, Prestwick, Newcastle, Dundee, and Benbecula, with Highlands and Islands Airports reporting widespread impacts across its 11 sites. At Belfast City Airport, cancellations have affected routes serving Manchester, Amsterdam, London City, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

Airline Ryanair confirmed it was notified of an equipment failure affecting flights across both the UK and Ireland, making this the second time in two weeks that Nats technical problems have hit airline schedules.

The disruption has drawn immediate political scrutiny. UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the situation on social media as "deeply frustrating for passengers after the previous issue." Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish government will engage with Nats to ensure the resilience of these critical systems is maintained.

Passengers have reported severe disruption to travel plans. Nicole McCloskey from Kilmarnock saw her family trip to Disneyland Paris cancelled, while Frank Bonner, travelling from Glasgow to Las Vegas to serve as best man at a wedding, had to search for alternative routes. At Glasgow Airport, passenger Lewis Fraser reported waiting hours aboard a stationary aircraft before several travellers chose to disembark.

While air traffic restrictions are now being wound down, getting aircraft and crews back into position will take time. I'll be tracking the recovery and will update this report as further details emerge.