Airports and airlines impacted by Microsoft outage

NEWS FLASH

Passengers have been hit by a Microsoft outage today, which has been caused by a security update from third-party software used by the tech company. The outage has affected airlines, media, businesses and banks to varying degrees across the world. Over 3.000 flights were cancelled globally. Microsoft said the "underlying cause" of the mass IT outage has been fixed for its apps, but "residual impact" is continuing to affect some services.

Air Serbia has warned of delays due to disruptions at certain airports within its network. In a statement, it said, "At the moment, from the destinations in the Air Serbia network, traffic is challenging at certain airports in Spain, as well as in Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich. Consequently, there may be phase delays and further adverse impacts to normal operations. For example, Zurich Airport is closed today until 20.00 local time".

Croatia Airlines has said that earlier issues with its booking engine, which made it difficult to book tickets, have now been resolved. 

Wizz Air has said it is facing “extreme technical challenges with the outage of third party global IT systems”. Wizz Air customers are expected to experience disruptions across the network with website and mobile application services temporarily unavailable. Passengers at its Belgrade and Skopje bases are asked to arrive at the airport at least three hours prior to departure. 

Air Montenegro itself has not been impacted by the outage, however, it is offering travellers who have missed their flights today due to queues at check-in and passport control the possibility to change their travel dates within the next seven days, subject to seat availability.

Ljubljana Airport is experiencing issues with check-in procedures and is manually checking in passengers on affected flights. It has advised travellers to arrive at the airport earlier than usual.

Belgrade, Dubrovnik, Tivat, Podgorica, Ohrid, Skopje and Zagreb airports have all said their systems and check-in procedures are functioning normally. However, all have warned that due to problems at other airports, some flights may be delayed or cancelled.

The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, said earlier today that air navigation service provider Croatia Control was experiencing issues. "Operationally, everything is working, but there is a malfunction in the administrative program. It's not a cyber attack, but a malfunction. We are working as hard as possible to eliminate the issue as soon as possible. I can't say how long it will take", Mr Butković said. Croatia Control has since said these problems have been resolved. 

Ryanair says it is experiencing "potential disruptions across the network" - which it says is due to a third party outage. The airline is advising that anyone travelling today should check the Ryanair app for updates on their flight.

KLM has "largely" had to suspend operations, but it is "working hard to resolve the problem". "We realise that this is very inconvenient for our customers and staff, particularly in the midst of the summer holiday season", it said.

In a statement, Turkish Airlines said, "A technical issue originating from a global supplier is affecting various sectors including aviation and has caused the cancellation of some of our flights".

Zurich Airport has restricted all landings, although flights already airborne and destined to the Swiss city are able to land. Flights are continuing to depart from Zurich, however, delays are expected, with check in being done manually by many ground handling providers.

Berlin Airport posted on X that is experiencing delays to check-ins due to a "technical fault". In Spain, an "incident" has been reported at all of the country's airports. "We are working to solve it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, operations are continuing with manual systems", the Spanish airport operator AENA said.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has also reported delays caused by the IT outage. "The outage has an impact on flights flying from and to Schiphol", a spokesperson said, adding it is not yet clear how many flights are affected.

At London Gatwick Airport, barcodes are not working so security checks on boarding passes are being done manually.

Prague Airport has also not been spared. In a statement it said, "Prague Airport is currently being affected by an outage of the global check-in system, which is used by a large number of airlines. As a result, some departures are delayed".

SAS Scandinavian Airlines' booking engine has also been affected, making it impossible to book tickets with the carrier.

US carriers Delta and United have issued a global ground stop on all flights.

American Airlines says it has been able to "safely re-establish" its operation following a "technical issue with a vendor".