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The report finds that all relevant parts of the aviation sector need to work together better when responding to major events such as the NATS technical failure.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) yesterday (14 November 2024) published the final report of the independent review, led by Jeff Halliwell and an expert panel, into the NATS technical IT failure of 28 August 2023. I would like to express my gratitude to the panel for its work.

• NATS August 2023 system failure review

In its final report, the panel has recognised that several factors contributed to the technical failure and that it is unlikely that the same unique set of circumstances would ever occur again, and that if they did, due to the actions already taken by NATS, the outcome would be different.

Whilst I am pleased that actions have been taken since the incident, it is critical that we ensure that:

• consumers have confidence when travelling
• possible disruption is minimised
• there is resilience in the system
• air passengers are informed of their rights should something go wrong

The report estimates that over 700,000 passengers were impacted, with the total cost of the technical failure to industry and air passengers likely to have been between £75 and £100 million.

The panel met with a wide range of industry stakeholders, including NATS, airlines and airports, international operators, and the Department for Transport (DfT). It has reached the conclusion that all relevant parts of the aviation sector need to work together better in the future when responding to major events such as the NATS technical failure.

The panel makes a total of 34 recommendations for future improvements for NATS (12), CAA (11), airlines/airports (6) and the government (5) to respond to and deliver on.

The 5 recommendations that the government has been asked to consider relate to improving consumer protections for aviation passengers, including giving the CAA additional powers and mandating alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for all airlines operating in the UK.

The CAA will be responsible for monitoring delivery against the panel’s recommendations for all parties. It is important that progress is made and that actions taken deliver better outcomes for the consumer. I have therefore asked that the CAA produces a report in 6 months’ time to provide an update on the progress made in response to each of the 34 recommendations set out in yesterday’s publication.

Air passenger rights are a priority for my department, and we will look to introduce reforms when we can to provide air travellers with the highest level of protection possible.