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Half of European flights delayed due to system failure Half of European flights delayed due to system failure
(about 3 hours later)
Up to half of all European flights on Tuesday could suffer from delays due to a failure in one of the systems used to manage air traffic. The organisation responsible for co-ordinating European air traffic says it has fixed an earlier fault which led to widespread flight delays.
Eurocontrol, which co-ordinates flights across the continent, said almost 15,000 scheduled trips "could have some delay". Eurocontrol earlier said that delays could affect up to half of all flights in Europe - about 15,000 trips.
Contingency plans put in place have reduced the network capacity by another 10%, it said. It said the faulty system was restarted at 19:00 GMT, and normal operations had resumed.
The problem is expected to be solved late on Tuesday evening. Tuesday's fault was only the second failure in 20 years, Eurocontrol said - the last happened in 2001.
Eurocontrol said there had been a failure in its Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System. The unspecified problem was with the Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System, which helps to manage air traffic by comparing demand and capacity of different air traffic control sectors.
The system helps to manage air traffic by comparing demand and capacity of different air traffic control sectors. It manages up to 36,000 flights a day. Some 29,500 were scheduled on Tuesday when the fault occurred.
Air traffic control itself has not been directly affected, and Eurocontrol said there "are no safety implications arising from this incident". When the system failed, Eurocontrol's contingency plan for a failure in the system deliberately reduced the capacity of the entire European network by 10%. It also added what it calls "predetermined departure intervals" at major airports.
"We have never had anything like this before," a Eurocontrol spokesman told the AFP news agency. On Twitter, the group said that it regrets the inconvenience, but that "safety is our number one priority at all times". In a statement, the group said it "very much regrets the disruption that has been caused to passengers and airlines due to today's outage."
Eurocontrol's contingency plan for a failure in the system, published on its website, calls for reducing capacity of the entire European network by 10%, and adding what it calls "predetermined departure intervals" at major airports. "We have never had anything like this before," a Eurocontrol spokesman told the AFP news agency.
"In this case, AOs (aircraft operators) concerned may expect high delays," the plan says. But air traffic control itself was not directly affected, and Eurocontrol said "safety was not compromised at any time".
Several European airports warned passengers to expect delays, with Brussels Airport saying it was limited to just 10 departures every hour. Schiphol in Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Dublin airports also warned passengers about delays of varied lengths. Earlier in the day, several European airports had warned passengers to expect delays, with Brussels Airport saying it was limited to just 10 departures every hour. Schiphol in Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Dublin airports also warned passengers about delays of varied lengths.
On Tuesday afternoon, Eurocontrol said its contingency plan will be maintained for several hours, "until we are certain that sufficient data is in the system to allow it to operate completely correctly". On Tuesday afternoon, Eurocontrol said its contingency plan would be in place for several hours, "until we are certain that sufficient data is in the system to allow it to operate completely correctly".
Eurocontrol announced the system restart later in the day, after what it called extensive testing.
It also asked airlines to resend any flight plans filed before 10:26 UTC, which it says were lost in the system failure.It also asked airlines to resend any flight plans filed before 10:26 UTC, which it says were lost in the system failure.
Separately, employees of Air France are on strike for the fourth consecutive day, reducing the airline's capacity by 25%.
Under EU law, passengers on delayed flights are usually entitled to compensation. But an exemption applies if the delay was caused by an "extraordinary circumstance" out of the airline's control.Under EU law, passengers on delayed flights are usually entitled to compensation. But an exemption applies if the delay was caused by an "extraordinary circumstance" out of the airline's control.