Air travellers hit by major aviation disruptions in 2025, AirHelp data reveals

AirHelp has analysed flight data from 2025 to identify the global aviation events that have caused the most disruption to UK passengers so far this year.

The company reviewed over 610,000 flights departing from the UK and found that more than 1.1 million passengers have been eligible for compensation under UK 261, the air passenger rights regulation. UK 261 entitles travellers to financial compensation if their flights are delayed by more than three hours, cancelled with less than 14 days’ notice, or denied boarding due to overbooking – unless the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances outside an airline’s control.

Heathrow substation fire shuts down airport

One of the most significant events occurred on 21 March, when a fire at North Hyde substation forced London Heathrow Airport to close for almost an entire day. Out of 609 scheduled departures, only 10 flights took off, leaving 99% of passengers disrupted and 98% of UK passengers facing cancellations.

Just 1,425 passengers departed Heathrow that day, compared with the 96,800 originally scheduled. Popular US routes to New York JFK, Los Angeles International and Miami International were hit hardest, with a 100% cancellation rate.

NATS outage disrupts flights nationwide

On 30 July, a “technical issue” at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) centre triggered widespread cancellations and delays across multiple airports including Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Flight disruption almost doubled, with 194,000 passengers affected on 30 July and over 201,000 on 31 July. Gatwick was particularly impacted, with 42,700 travellers and 64% of departing flights disrupted on 31 July alone.

Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, said: “From infrastructure failures to technical outages and strike action, 2025 has tested the resilience of UK air travel as events such as the Heathrow substation fire and the NATS outage have disrupted hundreds of thousands of passengers in such short periods of time. At AirHelp, we’re committed to helping travellers understand their rights and navigate these challenges, ensuring that when disruption strikes, passengers aren’t left powerless.”