European airports have been hit hard, with many experiencing severe delays and operational issues due to the tech outages.
A massive global technology failure on Friday morning has led to widespread IT system shutdowns across various sectors.
European airports have been hit hard, with many experiencing severe delays and operational issues due to the tech outages.
The disruption has also extended to other transport links, causing further travel headaches.
In the UK, the technical issues impacted major news channels, including Sky News, which was unable to broadcast live as scheduled.
The network’s executive chairman David Rhodes apologised to viewers for the interruption, saying many news reports are still available online.
CNN reports that the tech outage has also caused significant disruptions on a global scale, with airports and media outlets experiencing difficulties across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Professor Salil Kanhere from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, the global IT outage appears to have been caused by an issue with the CrowdStrike antivirus software.
“It appears to have impacted Windows machines with this software installed, causing them to crash (blue screen error) and get stuck in boot loops.
“An update to their software appears to have been rolled out globally without proper testing,” he added.
London’s Gatwick Airport said it is “affected by the global Microsoft issues” and that passengers may experience delays checking in and going through security.
Germany’s Berlin Airport said that it is experiencing delays to check-in due to a “technical fault.”
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport said the “global system failure” had affected “flights to and from Schiphol” and the impact is “now being mapped.” KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said the outages are “making flight handling impossible.”
Scotland’s Edinburgh Airport said IT systems outages mean “wait times are longer than usual at the airport.” Teams are on hand to assist while the airport works to resolve its issues, it said.
Spain’s airport authority AENA which supervises airports in Madrid, Barcelona and others across the country said in a post on X there was an “incident in the computer system” which “could cause delays,” adding that it is working to solve the problems.
Prague Airport said in a post on X that the issues have affected its global check-in system, delaying flights.
Ryanair also confirmed a disruption to the airline’s network, advising passengers to arrive at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.
Turkish Airlines said it was experiencing problems with ticketing, check-in and reservations. “Our teams are working diligently to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” the airline said in a statement.
Trains in the UK are also having issues, with Thameslink, a mainline route on the British railway, saying: “Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem.”
All flights for major carriers United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines have been grounded due to a "ground stop" issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA attributed the halt to communication issues but did not provide a timeline for when operations would resume. Additionally, Allegiant Airlines flights were also grounded.
Earlier in the day, Allegiant reported that its website was experiencing technical difficulties due to an issue with Microsoft Azure, the tech giant's cloud computing platform.
Several Asian airlines, including AirAsia, Cebu Pacific Air, and Singapore Airlines, have also been affected by the ongoing global technology disruption, according to their social media updates.
AirAsia reported on X that its core reservation and check-in systems are impacted by the Microsoft cloud services outage, which is affecting airlines worldwide.
Cebu Pacific Air stated that it has had to resort to manual processing due to the outage.
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines noted on X that while none of its flights have been impacted, it is experiencing technical difficulties. The airlines are working to resolve the issues and minimize disruptions to their operations.
A “widespread worldwide” computer malfunction also impacted hospitals and health services across Israel, the country's health ministry reported on Friday.
The ministry said, “This is not a cyber attack but a malfunction” in one piece of software, affecting “servers and computers.”
SaharaReporters earlier reported disruptions to activities in telecoms, aviation and other sectors in Australia and New Zealand.