A massive and worldwide outage is affecting airlines and airports.
All flights from several major US airlines – including Delta, United and American Airlines – were grounded Friday morning due to a communication issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Delta operations suspended
All Delta flights are paused following the Microsoft glitch. Any customers whose flights are impacted will be notified by Delta via the Fly Delta app and text message.
Airports in Japan affected
Japan’s Narita airport, around 60km (37miles) from Tokyo, says airlines JetStar, Jeju Air, Qantas, HK Express and Spring Japan are having issues with their systems.
Airport in India affected
And in India, Delhi airport says some services have been temporarily impacted.
Ryanair and TUI
Passengers checking in for flights at UK airports operated by Swissport being processed manually due to IT outage. Swissport works in 20 airports & is the handling agent for airlines including Ryanair & TUI.
Sydney Airport affected
First departure board information screens went blank – with at least one airline, Jetstar, announcing it could not check passengers in.
Its apology on the public address system firmly blamed Microsoft.
About half an hour later Virgin Australia said there had been a “total ground stop” with “no flights going in or out”.
Berlin Airport blocked
Flights were suspended until at least 10h am.
Allegiant flight operations
The FAA also announced Friday morning all Allegiant flights would be grounded.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport also affected
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is reporting delays caused by the IT outage: “The outage has an impact on flights flying from and to Schiphol,” a spokesperson says, adding it is not yet clear how many flights are affected.
Major airports affected across Europe
Prague Airport has also been affected by the check-in system outage and says some departures from the Czech capital are delayed.
And in Northern Ireland, Belfast International airport says the outage is impacting the airport, but flights remain operational.
Switzerland’s largest airport in Zurich also says planes are not allowed to land.
Flight handling impossible, says KLM
KLM and other airlines and airports have been affected by a global computer outage, making flight handling impossible. We realise that this is very inconvenient for our customers and staff, particularly in the midst of the summer holiday season. We’re working hard to resolve the problem. Until then, we will have to largely suspend operations.
