Flights chaos as airlines bear brunt of global IT outage

Carriers around the world warn travellers that flights could be disrupted by the problems

Numerous passengers wait in front of a black display board at the capital's Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Friday July 19, 2024. Air traffic has been suspended at BER Airport. A widespread Microsoft outage was disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday. (Christoph Soeder / dpa via AP)

Screen shows an error at a currency exchange store at Hong Kong International Airport. Reuters

Passengers queue at check-in desks at London Gatwick Airport. @sellwithDean / PA Photo

Passengers wait at Barajas Airport in Madrid. Reuters

A United Airlines passenger waits at Los Angeles International Airport. AP Photo

Jetstar passengers at the Gold Coast Airport in Bilinga, Australia. EPA

A sign showing departure information at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. EPA

Hong Kong Express Airways passengers queue at Hong Kong International Airport. Reuters

Travellers wait at Hamburg Airport, Germany. AP

Passengers form long queues at Singapore Airport. AFP

Delayed flights are displayed on a screen at Barcelona Airport. Getty

Passengers crowd the International flights departure terminal of Rome's Fiumicino airport. AP

Display screens show error messages at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. AFP

Passengers line up for check-in at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. AP

Long queues of passengers form at the check-in counters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. Getty

Turkish Airlines planes are parked at Istanbul Airport. EPA

Live updates: Follow the latest on the global IT outage

Several airports around the world issued warnings that travel could be disrupted as a result of the global IT outage.

The cause of the chaos, which has affected businesses from Australia to North America, is unclear, but several companies said problems with Microsoft were linked to a cyber security company called CrowdStrike.

Gatwick Airport in London warned passengers that services were "affected by the global Microsoft issues, so passengers may experience some delays while checking in and passing through security". Dublin Airport issued a similar statement.

Officials at Heathrow Airport assured travellers that flights were still operational.

"Microsoft is currently experiencing a global outage which is impacting select systems at Heathrow," a statement read.

"Flights are operational and we are implementing contingency plans to minimise any impact on journeys. Please check with your airline for the latest flight information."

Airlines including Vueling and Ryanair shared similar messages online, warning travellers of the possibility of delays.

In the UAE, flydubai assured passengers that its services had not been affected.

Etihad Airways said it was operating normally, but that passengers could be affected by "limited delays to services across its network", while Emirates confirmed there had been no impact on their flight operations.

"There may be delays to some flight timings later today, due to knock-on effects from delayed departures from some airports around our network," said an Emirates spokesperson.

Dubai Airports confirmed that Dubai International (DXB) was operating normally following a global system outage that affected the check-in process for some airlines in Terminals 1 and 2 on Friday morning.

"The affected airlines promptly switched to an alternate system, allowing normal check-in operations to resume swiftly," a Dubai Airports spokesperson said.

Indian carriers such as SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India posted on X to inform passengers that there could be disruption to flights.

"Our digital systems have been impacted temporarily due to the current Microsoft outage, resulting in delays. We regret the inconvenience caused and request our guests to plan their travel accordingly," Air India said.

Aena, a company that looks after 46 airports in Spain, issued a statement saying operations were being dealt with manually. "Due to an incident in the computer system, alterations are occurring in the Aena systems and in Spain's airport network, which could cause delays," it said.

"We are working to resolve it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, operations are being handled manually."

In Sydney, airport officials told customers the chaos has affected operations. "A global technical outage has impacted some airline operations and terminal services," Sydney Airport said in a statement.

"Flights are currently arriving and departing, however there may be some delays throughout the evening. We have activated our contingency plans and deployed additional staff to our terminals."

Melbourne Airport said check-in procedures for some airlines had been affected.

Turkish Airlines, the world's largest airline by number of destinations, told passengers it was experiencing problems with ticketing, check-in and reservations due to "a global technical issue in our information systems".

The carrier advised passengers to follow its social media channels for updates.

From its hub in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines operates dozens of routes in the Middle East and North Africa, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain and Doha.

The company's website showed an error message this morning, advising users that the site was unavailable.

Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines, which also flies to destinations across the Middle East, appeared to be operating normally on Friday morning.