Computer system disrupted worldwide
Railway breakdown causes chaos at Lufthansa – Frankfurt Airport is reopened
Thursday, 02/16/2023 | 15:09
Cable damage on a Frankfurt construction site led to chaos at Lufthansa on Wednesday. Computer systems failed and there were delays and cancellations for thousands of passengers connecting through the Frankfurt hub. There, 230 of 1000 planned flights were canceled by noon. Passengers were asked to transfer to the train. In the afternoon, the airport was reopened for landings after a three-hour closure. According to Lufthansa, operations should stabilize early on Wednesday evening.
According to Lufthansa, the serious IT failure was caused by construction work on a railway line in Frankfurt. An excavator with an earth auger severed fiber optic lines at a depth of five meters late Tuesday afternoon, a Telekom spokesman said on Wednesday. They are working “at full speed” to repair the lines, according to a spokesman. The repairs began on Tuesday evening and continued throughout the night. Some have already been repaired
Air traffic control blocks Frankfurt for landings – no other hubs affected
Because of the serious IT breakdown, German air traffic control no longer directed aircraft to Frankfurt Airport. All departures from Frankfurt were also stopped. This is to prevent the hub from filling up, as a spokesman for air traffic control confirmed on Wednesday. The machines were diverted to other airports such as Nuremberg, Cologne or Düsseldorf. According to a spokesman, planes would occasionally land again at noon.
International flights are also affected by the cancellation. There were also delays in Munich, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin and Hamburg. However, operations at the other group hubs are largely normal, a company spokesman said on Wednesday. Only one flight was canceled in Zurich, namely the one to Frankfurt. It is not correct that all flights worldwide have been canceled. In the event of longer-lasting problems, however, a blockage at the Munich hub is also possible. The Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings was also affected by flight disruptions.
The systems for checking in and boarding are affected by the breakdown. Paper and pen are currently being used to some extent, reports “RTL”. According to “n-tv”, no machine can currently be dispatched. Aircraft and passengers were backed up at Frankfurt Airport. A crisis team met at the Lufthansa headquarters at the airport.
Advertisement
Massive IT problems at Lufthansa – no machine can be processed
As a result, an as yet unknown number of flights were delayed or cancelled. The passengers were also not allowed into the waiting machines by means of a tally sheet because, according to the staff, important information about the departure was missing. All domestic German flights were initially canceled and passengers were asked to switch to the train.
FC Bayern was also slowed down on Wednesday. The Munich team’s return from the Champions League game at Paris Saint-Germain was delayed on Wednesday because there were initially problems with the check-in of the German record champions’ delegation. The team around trainer Julian Nagelsmann was only able to take their seats on the Lufthansa charter plane much later than planned. With a little more than an hour delay, the machine could then take off in the direction of Munich.
