The flight disruption that has hit Heathrow since Tuesday's air traffic control failure is easing, with airlines and Heathrow expecting schedules to return to normal later on Thursday, according to the Evening Standard and the Independent.
As of 7.15am on Thursday, 25 flights at Heathrow were showing as cancelled, 19 arrivals and six departures, the Evening Standard reported in its live coverage. That is a sharp drop from the hundreds of cancellations recorded on Tuesday and Wednesday, when a technical fault in the system Nats uses to process flight plans forced Heathrow to halt departures and triggered knock-on cancellations across the network. The Independent reported that more than 2,000 flights arriving or departing the UK have been cancelled since the fault first hit on Tuesday.
Despite the improving picture, pressure is growing on Nats leadership. The Independent reported that Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary described the position of Nats boss Martin Rolfe as "untenable" on Wednesday, and was expected to repeat his criticism at Ryanair's annual general meeting near Dublin later on Thursday. Wizz Air has also called for Rolfe to resign, while Downing Street has said it retains confidence in him pending investigations into the failure.
The easing comes a day after transport secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs in the Commons that she did not believe the outage was "unavoidable", and confirmed Nats has one week to report back internally while the Civil Aviation Authority carries out a separate review due within six months.
For passengers still travelling through Heathrow on Thursday, airlines are continuing to reposition aircraft and crew after two days of disruption, so isolated delays and cancellations are still possible even as the network recovers. Anyone with a flight today should check their airline's app or website before leaving home rather than assume their service is unaffected.
What this means for your journey: if you are flying from Heathrow today, confirm your flight status with your airline before you set off, and build in extra time at the terminal. If you are booking transport to the airport, see our guide to /taxis/ for options that let you adjust pick-up times at short notice if your flight changes.