UK Airport Gossip (11 September 2026)

New Birmingham–Manchester Airport direct rail link confirmed for 2027 – London Northwestern Railway will launch an hourly service from Birmingham New Street to Manchester Airport, giving the West Midlands its first direct airport rail connection in decades.

Manchester Airport opens its first Wetherspoons pub, The Belle Vue, a £3m venue, opens on 15 September in Terminal 2, serving passengers from first to last flight daily as part of the terminal’s decade long refurbishment.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport ranks among the UK’s top airports again, LJLA is named a Which? Recommended Provider for the fifth year running, scoring 79% and placing second nationwide.

Cardiff Airport named one of the UK’s best – Cardiff earns a 77% customer score and Which? Recommended Provider status, with strong ratings for security, cleanliness, and passenger experience. Passenger numbers have surged, and new direct flights to Toronto have launched.

Nationwide air traffic control failures cause major disruption – A technical fault at NATS on 8–9 September led to over 1,000 cancelled flights, affecting Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted and others.

The government has ordered a full investigation, and compensation is considered unlikely due to “extraordinary circumstances.”

CAA updates The Civil Aviation Authority has issued statements on passenger compensation following the NATS outage and continues to publish regulatory updates, including Heathrow expansion cost decisions and airport accessibility improvements.