Responding to the major air traffic control shutdown that took place yesterday (12 December), Mrs Louise Ellman, Chair of Transport Committee said on 13 December: “I am very concerned about this major breakdown in UK air traffic control and the impact of the disruption this failure has caused on airports, airlines and passengers. In such circumstances safety remains paramount, but going forward it is vital that we establish what happened yesterday, and what NATS must do in order to ensure the same problem does not recur in future. The Committee will ask the Secretary of State these and other questions when he appears before us on Monday.”

“I also hope that the Committee will call NATS and the CAA to give evidence to us, so that we can get to the bottom of what led up to this weekend’s events.”