Air Traffic Control Disruption

Daniel Francis Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Keir Mather]

While I am not currently in a position to give the hon. Gentleman a pounds-and-pence figure for the economic impact, I am under no illusions about this; it will be incredibly significant. We need to learn the lessons from what has happened to minimise the chance of disruption of this kind ever happening again. He asks me a broader question about compensation or refunds for passengers. Passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to assistance from their airlines, including either a refund within seven days or a rerouting to their destination, including through another airline, where appropriate. Passengers may also be entitled to care and assistance while waiting for a delayed or rerouted flight, but we saw lots of incidents of airport capacity not being able to deal with the number of passengers who were disrupted. That is a key lesson that we have to learn from this incident.

[Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for his statement, and I echo his thanks to the staff who have been working to overcome the incident. Yesterday the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill passed its Second Reading, but as part of the review, and as the Bill progresses, will the Minister commit to looking at how our most vulnerable passengers, particularly wheelchair users and blind or partially sighted passenger, can be supported when they are caught up in incidents like this?