By PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER and JON MICHAEL RAASCH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT

Published: 19:26 BST, 9 September 2026 | Updated: 19:49 BST, 9 September 2026

Donald Trump was left waiting aboard Marine One after an emergency evacuation slide deployed from the door of his controversial new Air Force One, delaying his departure for the Republican Midterm Convention.

‘They were doing a check on the slide. I think it takes 15 minutes,’ Trump told reporters after finally stepping off the helicopter. 

‘They were checking it before’ the flight Trump continued, adding, ‘they want to make sure everything works perfectly.’ 

Trump remained inside the helicopter well after it touched down, with the door of Marine One closed, according to multiple reports. 

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As the helicopter rolled to a stop, the older blue-and-white Air Force One was moved out of its hangar and into position a few hundred yards behind the Qatari-gifted jet, then lowered its front and rear steps.

Minutes later, the new plane had its inflatable emergency slide unfurled from the front door on the right-hand side, opposite the left-hand door the president normally uses to board.

After speaking with the press for a prolonged period as the slide was being dealt with, the president boarded the craft as the cameras were still rolling. 

The White House did not immediately explain the delay.

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The emergency slide of Air Force One is deployed ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to the Republican National Midterm Convention, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., September 9

The slide’s deployment appeared to delay the president’s departure to Dallas for the GOP midterm convention he is attending on Wednesday and Thursday

Trump remained inside the helicopter well after it touched down, with the door of Marine One

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This comes after growing concerns about the new aircraft, which Trump abandoned in Turkey in July on the advice of the Secret Service. 

The president was secretly spirited off on the Qatari-gifted presidential jet in an airline catering truck and flown to England on a smaller plane. 

This is a breaking news story that will continue to be updated. 

The moment tech fans have been waiting for is finally here, as Apple officially unveils the iPhone Duo.

Apple’s long-awaited first foldable device features a book-style design, with an inner screen that is wider than it is tall when opened out.

Its massive 7.6-inch Super Retina inner display is 80 per cent larger than the 18 Pro, coupled with a 5.4-inch outer display.

The iPhone duo is available in two colours – night sky and star white- and is constructed from titanium.

Thanks to its ‘effortlessly smooth’ hinge, the tech giant claims its first foldable will be even more durable and should keep annoying screen creasing to a minimum. 

However, the iPhone Duo features Touch ID for unlocking rather than Face ID, which may come as a disappointment to some fans.  

Launching the product from the company’s Cupertino headquarters, new CEO John Ternus said: ‘iPhone Duo is the most transformational change to iPhone since the original.’

However, this won’t come cheap, with prices starting at $1,999 making this Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever. 

But the iPhone Duo isn’t the only new device on offer, as Apple has also launched the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max alongside new Apple Watches and AirPods.

iPhone Duo

Apple’s most exciting update in years finally brings the tech giant into the foldable market.

Although Apple is a few years late to the game, it appears that the company has been taking their time to bring a refined product to market. 

The iPhone Duo shares the same squat, book-like shape as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, meaning the screen is wider than it is tall when opened. 

Both the inner and outer screens share the same 1.4 aspect ratio, ensuring that apps don’t get distorted or leave dead space when changing between views. 

The outer display measures 5.4 inches, while the inner screen extends out to 7.6 inches.

Users will be able to use the iPhone Duo in any orientation or position, leaving it half open to prop up and watch movies hands-free or holding it partially folded like a book. 

Thanks to the new A20 Pro chipset, Apple’s new foldable will be able to accommodate multitasking, running different apps on either side of the screen. 

The outer display measures 5.4 inches, while the inner screen extends out to 7.6 inches

Apple says the screen will also support the use of Apple Pencil just like an iPad, making it the first iPhone to do so.  

On the back, the iPhone Duo uses the same 48-megapixel camera as the iPhone 18 Pro.

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max

On the outside, these high–end phones look just like their predecessors – the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max – but with some big upgrades on the inside.

The new devices feature improved battery life, a more powerful chip, and a significantly improved camera system with the all–new mechanical aperture feature.

Launching the product from the company’s Cupertino headquarters, new CEO John Ternus said: ‘There’s no product in the world better designed to be your intelligent personal hub than iPhone.’

The iPhone 18 Pro is available in four colours: Black, Silver, a new colour called Glacier, and Burgundy.

And, after a long wait, the new iPhone will finally come with the upgraded Siri AI originally promised as part of Apple Intelligence.

The moment tech fans have been waiting for is finally here, as Apple officially unveils the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Pro Max

The iPhone 18 Pro is available in four colours: Black, Silver, a new colour called Glacier, and Burgundy (pictured) 

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However,at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively these are Apple’s most expensive non-folding smartphones yet. 

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available to pre–order from Saturday, September 12, and available from September 18. 

But the iPhone 18 Pro isn’t the only new gadget on offer, as Apple has also launched the AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12, and Apple Watch Ultra 4. 

AirPods 5 

While some earlier rumours had suggested new AirPods Pro with a built–in camera would be on the way, the tech giant has instead revealed an upgrade to its standard AirPods. 

The AirPods 5 keep the same open–ear design from the AirPods 4, but with some key upgrades.

Apple says that the new AirPods will feature ‘richer, more detailed sound’, as well as active noise cancellation (ANC) as standard. 

The company claims that its new open–ear ANC system cuts out 50 per cent more external noise than the AirPods as well as featuring a more natural transparency mode. 

Dave Pakula, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Engineering, said: ‘We’re thrilled that with AirPods 5, we’re able to bring Active Noise Cancellation — one of our most beloved features — to our most affordable AirPods’

Battery life has also been improved, with up to five hours of ANC playback on a charge – one hour longer than the AirPods 4 – and up to 22 hours with the charging case. 

The AirPods 5 keep the same open–ear design from the AirPods 4, but with some key upgrades 

As is to be expected with Apple making a big deal over its new AI capabilities, the AirPods will feature Siri AI compatibility for walk–and–talk AI conversations as well as live translation.

Users can even respond to Siri with head gestures such as nodding or shaking the head.  

The headphones are available in two variations: a standard option and a more expensive version that includes an on–stem volume control system from the AirPods Pro called Volume Swipe. 

The cheaper version is available for $129, with the more expensive option priced at $149 (UK price to be confirmed). 

Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 

Apple has released two upgrades to its lineup of wearables, the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4.

The Series 12 boasts a new ‘health sensing system’ designed to deliver better heart rate and heart rate variability measurements. 

Apple claims that this is now the most accurate heart rate sensing of any wearable on the market, after conducting a ‘scientifically rigorous’ study of over 1,000 people.

The Apple Watch Series 12 boasts a new ‘health sensing system’ designed to deliver better heart rate and heart rate variability measurements and a new ‘readiness score’ (pictured) 

Users will now be able to get better indicators of their overall health, including a new ‘readiness’ score.

The Apple Watch Series 12 also offers up to 24 hours of everyday battery life and 10 hours of battery during an outdoor workout – 25 per cent more than previous models.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4, meanwhile, packs all the same health-tracking upgrades alongside an even bigger battery life a suite of new AI features.

Thanks to a powerful chipset, the Ultra 4 is able to run some of Apple’s new AI features, including Audio Intelligence.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4 features ‘sound recognition’, which will alert deaf or hard-of-hearing users when it recognises important sounds, such as a doorbell.

The watch also features the new ‘Live Rewind’ feature, which can recall the last 15 seconds of a conversation to help catch details that users might have missed. 

The Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $399 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 starts at $799 (UK prices to be confirmed)   

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was nearly hit by a drone as he travelled to Oslo for the funeral of King Harald, the Norwegian Prime Minister said

Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was nearly hit by a drone on the way to Oslo.

Norwegian Prime Minister Gahr Støre said that it was the “reality he is facing” amid the war with Russia. Zelensky is in Norway for the funeral of King Harald.

The Ukrainian leader regular travels the world pushing Western leaders for support in his country’s war with Russia and this was a reminder of the dangers that he faces.

“His plane was ⁠almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova” said Store.

The leaders met along with defence companies to discuss the FREYJA anti-ballistic missile programme – an initiative aimed at building alternatives to the US-made Patriot interceptors.

Norway bade its final farewell to Harald V on Wednesday as crowds lined the streets and foreign royals and leaders converged on Oslo for the funeral of the long-serving king, who was remembered as a popular monarch with a down-to-earth touch.

A 21-gun salute rang out over the capital at the start of a funeral procession from the royal palace to Oslo Cathedral. Harald’s son, new King Haakon VIII, and other senior royals walked behind the coffin, draped with the red Norwegian royal standard. Harald’s widow, Queen Sonja, and Haakon’s wife, Queen Mette-Marit, followed in a car.

Norwegian officials and foreign dignitaries joined the solemn procession. They included the monarchs of Sweden, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and Jordan.

Also present were the heir to the British throne, Prince William, and Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino, as well as political leaders from more than 20 countries.

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Four fresh contestants tested their luck on the popular quiz show as The Chase returns for a new series

Bradley Walsh was left scratching his head over one question about food during a new episode of The Chase.

On Wednesday (9 September), ITV audiences were treated to another fresh installment of the beloved quiz show presented by Bradley Walsh. The four contestants playing to win a cash prize were Damian, Gail, Mollie, and Ben, and they were all up against quiz master, Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett.

Damian, a retired policeman from Burnley, was first to face the cash builder round, where he secured £8,000, and after going head-to-head with Mark, he sailed into the final.

Ceremonies registrar Gail, from Brighton, was up next and bagged £6,000 after answering six questions correctly, but crashed out in the head-to-head round after failing to outsmart the Chaser.

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Mollie, who works as a learning technologist in Newcastle, was also sent home by Mark after banking £5,000 in the cash builder.

The last chance of adding more cash to the £8,000 prize pot was left in Ben’s hands as the insurance broker from Weston-Super-Mare met with Bradley in the cash builder and answered five questions correctly.

Armed with £5,000, Ben faced Mark in the next round, and it was here that the host was left taken aback by one question.

“Used in Indian cooking, the spice mixture ‘garam masala’ often contains which pair of ingredients?” Bradley asked Ben before confirming the possible answer: “A. Cardamon and cumin, B. Star anise and sorrel, C. Tarragon and thyme.”

Bradley then asked, “How are you supposed to know that?” as he scratched his ear and looked down at the board, puzzled.

The correct answer was “cardamom and cumin”, as Ben answered the question right, leaving Bradley impressed: “Brilliant, brilliant that”, the host added.

Mark also got the question right but admitted he took a wild guess, as he didn’t know the answer: “I also, on the other hand, guessed blind,” he said before he burst out laughing.

Ben successfully joined Damian in the final chase with £13,000 in the prize pot, but answered only 12 questions correctly. So it came as no surprise that Mark caught the contestants with 48 seconds left on the clock.

“Okey, dokey gentleman, two attempts to push back, non executed, and caught with 48 seconds remaining, which equates, by the way, to another 12 questions at that speed”, Bradley told the two players as the game concluded.

The Chase airs weekdays at 5pm on ITV and ITVX

Perched on a luggage trolley, Ms Jones, who has had her trip to Warsaw with her friends booked for about a year, said: “In the States you go to the airport and you just take your boarding pass and go through security and go to your gate and then you sit there and guard your plane, you know, and here you don’t even have a gate assignment so you can’t get through security yet – that’s a little nerve-racking.”

Third Rothesay Test, Edgbaston (day one of five)

Pakistan 133: Shakeel 43; Tongue 4-42, Robinson 3-15, Archer 3-25

England 156-4: Gay 60, Brook 52*

England are 23 runs ahead

Scorecard

England again demolished the dismal Pakistan batting to move on course for a 3-0 clean sweep on the opening day of the third Test at Edgbaston.

After ripping out the tourists for only 133, England already have a 23-run advantage on 156-4.

Following a week of turmoil in which Pakistan sent seven players home, called up seven more and changed their coach, the outcome was much the same as the first two Tests.

Though the dry pitch seemed good for batting, a moody morning sky convinced England captain Joe Root to field first and his new-look pace attack was outstanding once more.

Pakistan failed to reach 200 for the fifth consecutive innings, while none of the top five made double figures. Saud Shakeel at least managed 43 and the ineptitude of the top order was put into context by last-wicket pair Muhammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali adding 26 in 46 balls – the best partnership of the innings.

Josh Tongue bowled quickly for his 4-42, Ollie Robinson passed 100 Test wickets with his 3-15 and Jofra Archer claimed the remaining three scalps.

In truth, it was a disappointing and dispiriting spectacle, but Pakistan showed some fight with the ball, not least when rapid debutant Razaullah inflicted yet another lbw on Root to leave England 39-3.

Emilio Gay and Harry Brook steadied England, each making half-centuries in a stand of 104 that pushed the hosts into the lead.

Gay dragged on off Razaullah. His gritty 60 was impressive, if perhaps not enough to provide certainty around his place in a congested England batting line-up.

Lady Joan Branson, 80, died on November 24 after suffering a cardiac arrest at the private Lister Hospital in Chelsea, west London, after the inquest concluded her death would likely have been prevented had she received anticoagulation treatment

A private hospital’s failure to administer preventative medication played a part in the death of Sir Richard Branson’s wife, an inquest has determined.

Lady Joan Branson, 80, passed away on November 24 following cardiac arrest at the private Lister Hospital in Chelsea, west London, which is owned and run by HCA Healthcare.

Westminster Coroner’s Court was told on Wednesday that her death resulted from a pulmonary embolism, a sudden, life-threatening obstruction in a lung artery, caused by deep vein thrombosis.

The virtual inquest was informed that Lady Joan was taken into hospital on November 17 following a fall several weeks before on Necker Island – a private luxury retreat in the Caribbean’s British Virgin Islands belonging to her billionaire husband.

Lady Joan told her GP the fall happened when she was “tripping over some slippers by the bed” and was found to have sustained fractures of the pelvis and fractures of the right hip, the virtual inquest was told.

Haematologist Dr George Adams informed the inquest that Lady Joan was “extremely high risk” for blood clots and the “biggest risk factor by far was her immobility and her fracture”.

Glasgow-born Lady Joan was not given any prophylactic anticoagulation – the preventative use of treatments to stop dangerous blood clots from forming – from the time of her hospital admission until her death. Dr Adams stated that he believed this played a part in her death, noting that prophylactic anticoagulation “reduces the number of clots and the size of those clots”, and adding: “More likely than not, it would have reduced the chances of her having a fatal pulmonary embolism.”

The Imperial academic, who had no involvement in Lady Joan’s care, further noted that “appropriate anticoagulation” would have “probably prevented her from dying”.

Professor Fiona Wilcox, senior coroner for Inner West London, paid tribute to Lady Joan as a “wonderful woman” who was “unfailingly kind”.

Delivering her conclusion, Professor Wilcox stated it was “not a case of neglect” and there “wasn’t an absence of treatment”.

Despite Lady Joan being at a “very high risk of developing deep vein thrombosis”, the coroner noted she had not been given prophylactic anticoagulants while in hospital.

The coroner concluded: “I do find her death would have likely been prevented and the lack of anticoagulation did cause or contribute to her death probably.”

The inquest also heard that Lady Joan was not given an immediate Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) assessment to evaluate her risk of developing dangerous blood clots.

Dr Adams stressed that “any patient who comes into hospital should have an immediate VTE assessment to determine their risk of bleeding”. Lady Joan’s daughter, Dr Holly Branson, informed the inquest that her mother was also without Thrombo-Embolus Deterrent stockings – devices designed to prevent deep vein thrombosis by stimulating blood circulation in the lower legs – during the first 48 hours following her admission.

The inquest heard that the hospital’s admitting doctor, Dr Basir Kunduzi, failed to carry out a bleeding risk assessment on the day Lady Joan was admitted.

Dr Kunduzi acknowledged that Lady Joan “should have been on anti-coagulants”, adding that her death led him to “reflect on my role as a doctor” and the importance of “good communication between team members”.

Resident medical officer Dr Nevil Pavithran, who was likewise involved in Lady Joan’s care, told the inquest that she “should have received her first dose of anticoagulation prophylaxis within 12 hours of admission”, warning that this failure to do so created a “significant risk”.

The doctor revealed he had “spent quite a lot of time going over the incidents” and confessed he felt he “should have been more forceful”.

Lady Joan’s consultant, Dr Inaki Bovil, noted there had been a “lot of work at the Lister to make it more robust around VTE and risk prevention” and to “prevent this from happening again”.

Following her passing, Sir Richard paid tribute to his wife, describing her as the “shining star around which our family’s universe has always orbited”. Honouring Lady Joan’s memory, Sir Richard penned: “Life will never be the same without her. But we have 50 incredible years of memories – years filled with tears and laughter, kindness and a love that shaped our family more than words could ever capture.

“It was a relationship that worked. We just had lots of laughs. We were very lucky.”

By HARRY BAMFORTH, LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE REPORTER

Updated: 18:47 BST, 9 September 2026

Passengers who saw their flights cancelled or delayed after a technical issue wreaked havoc at Britain’s airports are ‘unlikely’ to be untitled to compensation, the British Civil Aviation Authority warned. 

More than 300,000 holidaymakers were said to have been affected yesterday after an issue with the National Air Traffic Services’ ‘flight processing system’ saw scores of flights disrupted.  

The issue sent the country’s major airports – including Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham – into turmoil as passengers were left stranded in terminals and on runways. 

British Airways alone revealed it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights in a decision which affected ‘tens of thousands of customers’.

But passengers have now been warned that it is unlikely they will be awarded compensation for disruption caused by the technical failure due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under passenger rights rules. 

The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said this evening: ‘Although passengers should be looked after by airlines, they are unlikely to be entitled to compensation for delays or cancellations that were directly caused by the incident.’

The CAA confirmed that it has launched an investigation to understand what exactly caused the fault after NATS chief Martin Rolfe admitted last night that the service did ‘not yet have an idea’. 

Mr Rolfe faced calls to resign from a host of airlines following the ordeal and met with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander this morning. 

Alexander made clear she did not believe the shambles was ‘unavoidable’, though Mr Rolfe will not be ousted immediately while he retains the confidence of Downing Street. 

He was, however, branded an ‘overpaid failure’ yesterday after a similar issue caused chaos at British airports only last year.

Effectively pleading for his survival in a broadcast interview this morning, Mr Rolfe confirmed that a cyber attack was not responsible for the carnage. 

He promised there would be a ‘very, very thorough investigation’ into the issue – but also argued that such incidents were ‘inevitable’.

Tens of thousands of passengers were caught up in the travel mayhem after a system issue hit NATS, which provides air traffic control services to 15 UK airports.

Some unfortunate travellers were trying to get some sleep at Heathrow this morning 

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NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe has promised a ‘very, very thorough and full investigation’

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander ordered NATS chief Martin Rolfe to report back in detail on the ‘completely unacceptable’ situation at a meeting this morning

Cancelled flights are listed on a check-in display board at Heathrow Terminal Three yesterday

Chaos continued today with more cancellations and delays as airlines deal with the knock-on impacts at hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted.

Aviation analytics company Cirium said as of 3pm, more than 300 flights had been cancelled or not taken off today, with more than 2,000 affected over the past two days.

British Airways said the fault had forced it to cancel almost 550 of its flights, which had impacted more than 85,000 passengers.

The airline said it was ‘incredibly sorry’ to its customers and that the issue had been ‘entirely out of our control’.

Mr Rolfe told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We will be doing a very, very thorough and full investigation. We have at this point ruled out cyber, we don’t believe it was a cyber attack.

‘My focus and that of the team has been on both getting our system operating back up normally, which it is now, but there’s obviously a huge tail to the disruption and we’ll be working on that through the course of today.

‘And then our attention will turn to exactly what’s happened in this particular incident. What I will say is I don’t believe we’ve ever seen an incident happen more than once, so this will be something different that we’ve never seen in 50 years of operation.’

Mr Rolfe also apologised for the disruption, adding: ‘Inevitably, things do go wrong in complex systems. We never want them to. We always hope they won’t, but we absolutely plan for them to and make sure we handle them properly.

‘I would say the UK has one of the best reputations in the world for its air traffic control service, both from a safety perspective and from a resilience perspective.

‘NATS was actually a partial privatisation 25 years ago, and since that point, it’s had access to funding. We’ve invested way more than a billion in technology over that time, our service has consistently improved. Our safety is consistently improved from a very good base.

‘But all of those things don’t detract from the fact that when these things happen, it is disappointing and upsetting, for which I apologise.’

Discussing the response to yesterday’s incident, Mr Rolfe said: ‘We had everybody on site, everybody was in the right place. We had all the engineers in place. We had our various partners from software industries and so on all on hand.

‘So this was resolved as quickly as it could be, but within the limits of making sure that it all stayed safe.’

Ms Alexander told MPs this afternoon that she did not believe the air traffic control problems that have caused chaos for passengers were ‘unavoidable’.

She said in the Commons: ‘A four-hour air traffic outage yesterday left hundreds of thousands of passengers facing cancellations, diversions and delays. I would like to apologise wholeheartedly to passengers for this disruption.

‘We often take for granted the way in which our aviation system just works, but yesterday that was not the case. Safety must remain air traffic controllers’ overriding priority and this morning I have spoken to NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe, who informed me this outage was due to a technical issue at their Swanwick site.

‘So, while my understanding from NATS is that we can rule out a cyber attack on this occasion, I do not believe this issue was unavoidable.

‘We also spoke this morning about how NATS responded to resolve and minimise the disruption as quickly as possible, and I am grateful to the airports and airlines who responded straight away.

‘But I am clear that passengers should not have to face this disruption. I have therefore asked the CAA to conduct an independent review to establish cause and ensure that our air traffic control systems can get passengers to where they need to be and this … review will report to me within six months.’

The managing director of Wizz Air UK, Yvonne Moynihan, said it should be a case of ‘three strikes and you’re out’.

‘I’m very surprised at that and it would seem like an easy pass for him after a number of own goals,’ she told Times Radio. 

‘There have been three distinct and three separate incidents over three summers, particularly in August, September time, which is very busy period for airlines. 

‘So the question is not whether failures can happen. The question is whether enough has been done since the previous incidents to prevent another nationwide disruption. 

‘We’ve used the phrase three strikes and you’re out. It seems from the airlines’ and the industry’s point of view that three failures is unacceptable and passengers and airlines want to understand why would there be confidence in a public system that continues to fail.’ 

Ryanair chief operating officer Neal McMahon said Mr Rolfe should go.

‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome,’ he told Times Radio. 

‘We had the same flight planning processing issue in 2023… yet here we are less than three years later…’

He added: ‘We understand the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, is going to meet with Martin Rolfe today, and we think she should ask him to resign.’ 

Mr McMahon said the airlines had invested ‘hugely in resilience’, in contrast to NATS.

The problem is that they have a crap system and they don’t invest in it,’ he said.

‘And instead of investing in the system, they pay big bonuses to management and they pay huge dividends to the shareholders.’

Earlier, Mr Rolfe said that he ‘always accept(s) full responsibility’ when asked if he was considering his position after the incident.

Mr Rolfe is set for a showdown with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander amid calls for his resignation

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Passengers wait at Heathrow Airport yesterday amid major disruption due to the NATS issue

He told Sky News: ‘I am the CEO of a piece of critical infrastructure, so it is my job to take responsibility for that.

‘What I absolutely take responsibility for is keeping people safe and delivering the best service we possibly can on a day like today.

‘You will understand my focus is entirely about how we actually resolve this issue, get things back to normal, help our airlines, our airport customers and the travelling public.’

This morning, Heathrow advised travellers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

‘Following yesterday’s NATS technical issue, flights are operating today, but some disruption may continue as airlines reposition aircraft and crew,’ it said in a statement on social media.

‘Please check your flight status with your airline before travelling to the airport and only travel if your flight is confirmed to be operating.

‘We apologise to those affected and have extra colleagues across our terminals to support passengers while we work with NATS and airline partners to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.’

Gatwick also said flights had resumed but disruption was likely to continue.

Its statement said: ‘We still anticipate that it will take time for our operations to fully return to normal. Passengers should continue to check with their airlines for more information regarding their flights.’

Luton Airport confirmed early this morning that the airport was ‘open and operational’, but said: ‘Some flights may still be subject to disruption and passengers are advised to check their flight status directly before travelling to the airport.’

Travel journalist Simon Calder said the knock-on effects today were ‘going to be horrible’.

He told Sky News: ‘There are going to be dozens of cancellations in the morning of flights coming into Heathrow because, basically, the flights didn’t go out tonight.’

Ryanair said more than 65,000 of its passengers had been disrupted and it had cancelled more than 50 scheduled flights.

British Airways (BA) said it was forced to cancel or divert more than 100 flights on Tuesday which had affected ‘tens of thousands of customers’.

Mr Rolfe has been under fire from Wizz Air and Ryanair after the latest issue which saw some passengers trapped on planes on runways for hours.

Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s chief operating officer, called on Mr Rolfe to resign, saying: ‘How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO Martin Rolfe accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns?

‘Over three years after NATS’ catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it’s clear that nothing has changed, with UK passengers once again suffering avoidable ATC (air traffic control) delays of up to eight hours today due a critical NATS ATC system failing’.

Last night, NATS said on X: ‘Work is continuing to assist airlines and airports recover from today’s disruption.

‘This has been a very complex recovery and has created difficulties for the whole aviation network, from which it will take time to recover.

‘We apologise again for the disruption caused. Passengers should check with their airline on the status of their flight tonight or tomorrow.’

Ms Alexander is set to speak with Mr Rolfe today before she addresses MPs in the Commons for the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill.

Among the thousands facing disruption yesterday was Josie Donoghue, who had to get off her flight to Ireland after spending three hours on the runway at Gatwick.

Ms Donoghue said: ‘Getting through that airport was like trying to get out of Alcatraz. We were trapped in there. We were told we couldn’t get out until the flights were cancelled, and then eventually they allowed us to get out.

‘It’s just an absolute nightmare down there, it’s the only word I can use to describe it.’

Have you been affected? Email lettice.bromovsky@dailymail.co.uk