UAE-US flights operating as normal after FAA system outage

Thousands of flights across the United States were grounded as authorities scrambled to fix a computer problem

Passengers wait for their flights at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The US Federal Aviation Authority said that normal flight operations 'are resuming gradually' across the country after an overnight systems malfunction grounded planes. AFP

A passenger waits for a flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York. AFP

Delta Airlines planes taxi at LaGuardia in New York. AFP

American Airlines employees help check in passengers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. AFP

A FedEx flight takes off from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. EPA

People wait at LaGuardia Airport in New York. EPA

A traveller looks at a flight information board at Ronald Reagan Airport in Arlington, Virginia. AFP

A Spirit Airlines service agent assists a passenger whose flight was delayed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia. Reuters

Cancelled and delayed flights on a departure board at Ronald Reagan Airport in Virginia. Bloomberg

Passengers wait for the resumption of flights at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. Reuters

A traveller looks at a flight information board at Ronald Reagan Airport in Virginia. AFP

A passenger walks to a nearly empty security checkpoint at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Reuters

A passenger sits in a nearly empty terminal after flights were grounded at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Reuters

Commercial planes park at gates after flights were grounded at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Reuters

A passenger checks in at Chicago's Midway Airport. AP

People look at a video display showing flight delays and cancellations at Ronald Reagan Airport. AP

Travellers wait in the terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in California. AFP

Planes wait for takeoff at Orlando International Airport in Florida. AP

Flights from the UAE to the US are operating as normal despite hundreds of planes being grounded at airports across the US following a technical error.

A computer power outage to the Federal Aviation Administration Notice to Air Missions system, which provides safety information to flight crews, in the early hours of Wednesday morning halted flights across the country.

The authority issued a ground stop preventing flights from departing, leading to hundreds of delays and cancellations at several airports.

Flights from the UAE to the US were not impacted by the disruption.

Emirates said that the system outage did not impact flights from Dubai to its hubs in the US. The airline operates to 11 destinations across the country, including New York, Miami, Chicago and Washington, DC.

"There was no impact to our operations" a spokesperson for the airline told The National.

Etihad Airways also confirmed that UAE flights were not impacted by the ground stop. The national airline of the UAE operates to Chicago, New York and Washington.

“Etihad Airways is aware of a technical issue affecting all airline flights in North America. At present, this is not having an impact on our operation, and our flights to US destinations currently in the air and preparing to depart this evening are operating as normal,” a representative for the airline said on Wednesday.

“We will closely monitor the situation and alert our customers should the position change."

Departures in the US resumed initially at Newark Liberty airport in New York and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Chicago due to air traffic congestion in those areas.

All other outgoing flights across the US began to resume again gradually from about 9am on Wednesday morning, easing disruption for travellers.

The FAA has traced the disruption to a damaged database file.

"At this time, there is no evidence of a cyber attack." FAA confirmed on Wednesday evening.

It’s not the first time in the past month that a technology problem has caused mass flight disruption. British Airways faced technical issues in December that grounded flights in the US and London.

In the Philippines, too, tens of thousands of passengers were affected by flight delays, cancellations and diversions in and out of Manila after an air traffic control system malfunction caused travel chaos across the country on New Year's Day.