A UK air traffic control outage on Tuesday forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled, diverted or delayed, triggering significant costs across the aviation sector and beyond.

Europe's largest airline, Ryanair, cancelled 260 flights, affecting roughly 48,000 passengers at a typical load factor of 94 percent. At an average fare of £55, this implies around £2.6 million in at-risk revenue, before accounting for additional expenses such as meals and accommodation.

The broader economic impact extends far beyond carrier losses. A previous 2023 outage lasting just four hours ultimately cost £65 million across all airlines, with an additional £35 million borne by passengers, tour operators and insurers, according to the UK's aviation regulator. However, these figures exclude reputational damage, which can be lasting and harder to quantify.

Passengers stranded on Tuesday likened their experience to imprisonment, and while airlines have improved communication tools, the lack of information rendered them ineffective. Airlines will likely absorb public frustration despite the outage originating from National Air Traffic Services (NATS). This marks the third major NATS disruption in three years, raising concerns about the resilience of UK aviation infrastructure amid wider strain on national systems.