A global Windows glitch has disrupted much of the world’s infrastructure. Major US and European airlines ordered flights to be grounded on Friday, citing communications problems, while other carriers, media companies, banks and telecommunications firms around the world also reported system outages at Microsoft disrupt operations.
Several airports and airlines reported problems with their IT systems, which prevented planes from taking off. Berlin Airport has announced it is experiencing check-in delays due to a “technical fault”.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, also said it was experiencing a cyber outage.
In Spain, an “incident” was reported at all airports in the country. “We are working to resolve it as soon as possible. In the meantime, operations continue with manual systems,” states the company that operates Spanish airports.
Also at Edinburgh Airport, services were disrupted due to a computer error which caused the departure screens to malfunction. Departure boards in the main terminal building appeared to freeze, displaying out-of-date information on gate numbers and departure times, causing some passengers to miss their flights.
European airline Ryanair has announced it is experiencing “potential network-wide disruption” – which it says is due to an outage by a third party.
The flights of the WizzAir, Ryanair, Turkish Airlines, Eurowings companies were affected by the major failure of IT services in Romania as well, a representative of the Otopeni Airport confirmed for HotNews.ro.
“It’s a global SITA system that depends on Microsoft Cloud, and it went down and affected SITA and the companies,” he explained.
In the UK, Sky News television stopped broadcasting due to these problems. The channel was unable to go live this morning, says the company’s executive chairman. Also in the UK, a major rail company has warned passengers to expect disruption as it suffers from “widespread IT problems”.
Microsoft has announced that it is taking “mitigation measures” after the service problems, AFP news agency reports. The company says it is investigating issues with its cloud services in the US and an issue affecting several of its apps and services.
Wizz Air ask passengers to be at airport 3 hrs before departure
Wizz Air said in a press statement today that “potential disruptions are expected due to continued disruption of a third party’s global IT system”.
“Today, like all airlines, Wizz Air is experiencing extreme technical difficulties caused by the disruption of a third party’s global IT systems. Wizz Air customers may experience disruptions throughout the network, with services on the website and mobile applications being temporarily unavailable. The following online services are currently unavailable: The Wizz Air website and mobile application; Reservation system; Online check-in system and boarding pass display; Contact centers – new bookings and changes to existing ones. Free airport check-in is offered during the service interruption. Therefore, we advise passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before the scheduled departure time to allow enough time for check-in, security screening and any health or safety procedures specific to each airport. Thank you for your understanding as we deal with the effects of the global IT systems outage. The Wizz Air team is doing everything possible to minimize disruption for our customers,” according to their statement.
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