Smith criticised the Government for not offering a statement initially and highlighted the severe impact on passengers, citing 2,000 cancelled flights and over 150,000 affected individuals. He questioned the adequacy of the timeline for diagnosing the problem and called for immediate action instead of delaying tactics. He urged the Government to take responsibility and ensure that lessons are acted upon, not just learned. Smith asked for more detail on the cause of the disruption, questioning whether it was a software failure or due to insufficient engineering resources. He also criticised the lack of suitable contingency plans by airlines and airports.

McDonnell thanked the Minister for his statement and mentioned that NATS used to be in his constituency, now moved to Swanwick. He receives correspondence from constituents regarding Heathrow airport issues. He asked whether NATS's resourcing is adequate to deal with such issues.

Olly Glover questioned whether the Government should focus on fixing the air traffic control systems before committing to massive aviation expansion, given recent incidents and poor passenger experiences.

Mike Kane thanked the Minister and raised concerns about the lack of progress in implementing previous recommendations and the need for wider reform of the CAA and NATS to accommodate technological advancements.

Paul Holmes thanked the staff of NATS and urged the Minister to look seriously at the six-month timescale for the CAA review and to commit to full transparency in sharing lessons learned.

Alan Gemmell thanked the Minister for his leadership and NATS staff for their support in managing the incident.

Bradley Thomas asked the Minister for the economic cost of the incident and plans to compensate affected passengers.

Daniel Francis thanked the Minister and asked about supporting vulnerable passengers, particularly wheelchair users and blind or partially sighted passengers, in future incidents.

Alec Shelbrooke questioned the Minister's oversight to ensure that technology and upgrade plans do not get sidetracked by delays or bugs.

I thank the Minister for his statement, and for all the work that he is doing to get this situation resolved. Unfortunately, the cancellations impacted some of my Redditch residents yesterday. Will he assure me that he is reminding airlines that they have a continued duty of care to people, and have to get them home as quickly as possible, particularly those who have been stranded far from home?

I apologise for the earlier slip, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I echo the comments about the fantastic job done safeguarding the British public by the staff at NATS? Just recently, I visited air traffic control in our control tower at Edinburgh airport, and I saw at first hand the amount of work that goes into keeping the public safe. However, through the airport, I am acutely aware that there is dissatisfaction with the delays in the new airspace management programme. We have not made progress in Scotland; in fact, we fear that this will be put aside for yet another year. That all feeds into a lack of confidence among the British public and air passengers in our transport system. Can the Minister assure me that steps will be taken to speed up the management, and to ensure that our air passengers get the improved system that they deserve?

Many passengers and their families across the country will still be wondering whether the disruptions caused by the incident have been fully cleared. Will the Minister confirm the current situation? When does he expect that airports will return to providing the excellent service that they generally provide?

Against a backdrop of realism—things just go wrong, no matter how much money is invested in them, or how up to date they are—does it not seem slightly ludicrous that NATS has put all its eggs in one basket? There is no shadow, back-up or secondary scheme that can be used. If there was, it might not be as good as the main one, but it would minimise, or certainly attenuate, disruption. Is it in the Minister’s thinking to put the eggs in more baskets, rather than just relying on one particular bit of software?

As you will be aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, this issue has had a huge impact on my constituency of Harlow. Not only do many passengers use Stansted airport, but over 1,000 members of its staff live in my constituency. I have full faith in the Minister and his ability to lead on this issue, but can he reassure my constituents that he is doing everything he can to hold the leadership of NATS to account and to ensure that this does not happen again, and to ensure that, as the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare) said, if something like this does happen again, there are contingency plans in place?

Does the Minister agree that this incident, and the other ones that preceded it, are a threat to national security? As my hon. Friend the Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) said, more than 100 RAF personnel are stationed at Swanwick, and are involved in protecting our national interest and our defence. The Minister has not yet addressed the security threat to our country posed by this incompetence.

NATS is a significant local employer for my constituents, and I put on record my thanks to the engineers and controllers who worked hard to restore the system and keep passengers safe. However, this is the third such collapse in three years, and all employees who work for NATS, as well as the airports, airlines and passengers who rely on it, deserve better. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that a genuinely effective back-up system is in place, so that we are not back here again in another two years?

Just how confident is the Minister that this was not a cyber-attack? How confident is he of the resilience of the system in the event of such an attack, and how confident is he in the willingness and ability of the Government to retaliate in the event of such an attack, as the best form of deterrence?

Any disruption to aviation has an adverse impact on travellers coming from Northern Ireland. Will the Minister give reassurance that when he speaks of contingency and resilience, he includes the Northern Ireland airports—Aldergrove airport in my constituency and Belfast City airport—within that?

Many of my constituents work at Heathrow airport. They have had to work extra hours and have suffered abuse. I also want to know what advice the Department is giving to constituents affected by flight cancellations on claiming compensation and alternative travel opportunities. Has a hotline been set up for immediate advice?

A constituent's shift at an airport was cancelled due to the air traffic control system problems and they were told not to expect pay for that day. Will the Minister confirm that all workers who were due to work at airports yesterday should get paid for that shift?

This is the third time such an incident has occurred in three years. The chief executive of NATS received an £871,000 bonus. What specific resilience measures is the Minister’s Department implementing to prioritise Northern Ireland air bridges during system recovery? Why are passengers bearing the financial burden while NATS avoids accountability?