Heathrow Reopens After 12-Hour Shutdown
Flights are touching down at Heathrow again, but hundreds of cancellations mean the backlog will take days to clear.
Key Details
- First landing time
- 4:58 local
- Shutdown duration
- 12 hours
This is a developing story. Read the original coverage: London System Failure Diverts Widebody Jets to Milan
Heathrow is back. Air traffic control officially cleared the UK's busiest hub to resume operations following yesterday's crippling NATS technical failure, with the first arrival touching down at 4:58 local time. That ends a grueling 12-hour lockdown that paralyzed British airspace and sent widebody jets scrambling to diversion points across Europe.
Getting the rest of the schedule moving is a whole different fight. Hundreds of flights remain scrubbed, and airlines are racing to reposition stranded aircraft and crews scattered across the continent. If you're heading to the airport anytime soon, don't leave home without checking your flight status first — the knock-on delays and cancellations are going to ripple through the network for days.
Recovery efforts are moving fast, but the backlog at LHR is massive. Ground crews face a brutal climb just to get the schedule breathing again after a shutdown we haven't seen the likes of in years.
Source: ItaliaVola | 9 September 2026
Why It Matters
Though Heathrow has finally reopened, the massive backlog of canceled and delayed flights means widespread disruption will plague European travel for days.
Source: ItaliaVola. Content curated and produced by Skyplus Team.
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