Manchester Airport: planned radar outage on 30 November 2026 will widen spacing between aircraft

NATS has advised of a planned outage of the Manchester secondary surveillance radar on 30 November 2026 between 09:00 and 17:00 local time, according to the airport events listing published by EUROCONTROL. During the outage, air traffic control will use the Clee Hill radar instead, which increases the minimum separation between aircraft from 3 to 5 nautical miles.

The entry is marked as having an impact on operations. Wider minimum spacing between aircraft can reduce the number of arrivals and departures that can be handled in a given period.

The same listing shows further planned events at Manchester. Pavement reconstruction and service pit repairs on Taxiway Delta, between D7 and D8, are scheduled from 23 November 2026 to 28 May 2027 and are marked as having an impact. A snow-clearing simulation, Exercise Glacius, is planned for 20 November on runway 05R/23L and the Southside taxiways during a scheduled runway closure, and a charity fun run will take place on runway 05R/23L on 13 December, when runway 05L/23R stays open as a single-runway operation; both are marked as having no impact.

The text of the radar entry is cut off in the listing, and it does not say whether any flights will be delayed or rescheduled on 30 November. Passengers flying to or from Manchester that day should check their flight status with their airline before travelling.