European air travelers on Tuesday faced mass disruption with up to half of all flights delayed after the system that manages air traffic for the continent broke down.
Nearly 15,000 flights were held up by the problem, according to Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based agency in charge of managing Europe’s skies.
Several of the EU’s biggest airports, including Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, warned of problems and advised passengers to check on their flights because of the computer breakdown.
“Today, 29,500 flights were expected in the European network. Approximately half of those could have some delay as a result of the system outage,” a Eurocontrol statement said.
“We very much regret the inconvenience caused to passengers across Europe today, however safety is our number 1 priority at all times. We are working hard to ensure the network returns to normal operations over the coming hours,” it later tweeted.
Eurocontrol blamed a “failure of the enhanced tactical flow management system,” which tracks and manages traffic demand across the continent, and said it had activated contingency plans which reduced European flight capacity by 10 percent.
The cause had been identified, it said, without saying what it was.
Eurocontrol added that flight plans from before 10:26am GMT were “lost” and asked airlines to refile them.
“We have never had anything like this before,” a Eurocontrol spokesman said.
The breakdown came a day after the Easter holidays when many travelers are on the move around Europe and as commuters across France faced disruption from a massive rail strike in protest at French President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms.
Several airports across the continent warned of problems, with Amsterdam’s Schiphol saying that the “system failure” at Eurocontrol could have “possible consequences” for departures.
Brussels airport said departures were limited to 10 flights an hour.
The Belgian airport manages 650 flights a day.
Helsinki, Prague, Copenhagen and Dublin airports also warned of possible delays.
Frankfurt airport, Germany’s biggest and one of the busiest in Europe, said the effects were “limited,” but added that planes from Brussels “might not be able to arrive.”
“We have delays at departures, but this is nothing dramatic. Punctuality is currently under 80 percent,” said a spokesperson of Fraport, which runs the airport.
German air traffic control operator Deutsche Flugsicherung warned of a “vicious circle” of delays.
“Since 2pm this system, the network manager, has failed in Brussels. This is the system, the department, that controls the flight schedules,” a spokeswoman said. “You work from experience, but things are going slower. But of course, a vicious circle can arise. If nobody takes off, nobody can land. We don’t know how long it’ll take.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was