Global cyber outage affecting flight operations internationally

A major tech outage is affecting flight operations, causing severe disruption across the globe. The outage has also impacted other industries including banks and health services.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs, is being affected by a global cyber outage, a spokesperson said on Friday.

"The outage has an impact on flights flying from and to Schiphol," he said, adding that it was not yet clear how many flights were affected. The spokesperson added that “travelers flying today should contact their airline.”

In Germany, Berlin airport has halted all flights until at least 10am (12pm UAE time) due to a technical fault, a spokesperson told Reuters on Friday. Earlier, airport operator BER said in a post on social media platform X that check-ins were delayed due to the error. Dusseldorf airport also reported disruption to Eurowings check-in and boarding due to the malfunction.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a communication issue led to the grounding of all flights from several major US airlines, including Delta, United, and American Airlines. The FAA stated that this ground stop affects flights from these airlines regardless of their intended destinations.

Passengers at UK’s Edinburgh airport cannot use automated boarding pass scanners and Ryanair has reported issues. Passengers at London Gatwick faced similar issues as barcode scanners stopped working.

Downdetector, a site that tracks service disruptions, noted significant increases in issues affecting Microsoft applications, banking sites, and airline apps.

Scandinavian airline SAS also confirmed having technical problems affecting its booking engine making it impossible to book a ticket online. The airline said it is "fully operational but we are expecting delays".

Swiss International Air Lines said that its systems had not been impacted but Swiss flight operations have been affected due to disruptions at partner companies and air traffic control.

Prague Airport also reported some delays to departures while Belgian media said Brussels airport was also affected as well.

Air France and Air India also confirmed operations were disrupted.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority confirmed airlines were affected and manual check-in systems were in place. 

ARN has reached out local airlines for comment.

Elsewhere the cyber outage has affected Australian media, banks and telecoms companies internationally. IT security firm Crowdstrike ran a recorded phone message on Friday saying it was aware of reports of crashes on Microsoft's Windows operating system relating to its Falcon sensor. 

The Paris Olympics organising committee said that its IT operations have been impacted, just a week before the Games begin. "We have activated contingency plans in order to continue operations," the organising committee said in a statement.