Tech disruptions across the world have hit airlines and businesses, which are scrambling to respond.
Microsoft said it was investigating an issue preventing users from accessing its apps and services. Industry experts said the disruption appears to stem from an issue with CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that has Microsoft among its clients.
Major US carriers including Delta, United and American Airlines have had flights grounded, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. International airlines, including Virgin Australia and Qantas, have also seen disruptions.
Banks and telecoms companies in Australia and New Zealand have been affected, while Israel’s hospitals and health services are facing a computer “malfunction,” authorities said.
Here’s the latest on the affected airports and airlines in Europe:
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 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 the outages mean “wait times are longer than usual at the airport.”
Spain’s airport authority, AENA, which supervises airports in Madrid, Barcelona and others across the country said the outage “could cause delays” and that its staff are working to solve the problems.
Prague Airport said 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.
Air France, the country’s flag carrier, said the IT issue had disrupted its operations — although flights already in the air are not affected.
Turkish Airlines said it was experiencing problems with ticketing, check-in and reservations. “Our teams are working diligently to resolve the issue,” the airline said.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the reason for the ongoing tech outage has been identified and “updates have been released to resolve the issue.”
The ministry “is in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global tech outage,” Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s minister for railways, information and broadcasting, electronics & information technology, said via X on Friday.
The Jaipur International Airport in the western Indian state of Rajasthan said earlier that “flights nationwide ” have been affected by the outage.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in the financial capital of Mumbai also shared an advisory via X, saying “select airline operations” were affected, including “booking, check-in, access to boarding passes and flights.”
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and six Indian airlines have also reported technical difficulties, resulting in the disruption of their services.
Air Premia, Jeju Air, Eastar Jet, Jetstar and Hong Kong Express airlines are experiencing delays in issuing boarding passes at check-in counters and during boarding procedures, the spokesperson said.
The airlines use computer systems based on Microsoft’s cloud service. Incheon International Airport does not use the Microsoft system, and so is not experiencing any disruptions, its spokesperson told CNN.
The South Korean flag carrier Korean Air said it uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) and was not affected by the outage.
CrowdStrike stock plummeted by more than 18% in pre-market trading on Friday in New York, indicating heavy selling pressure that could cause it to open sharply lower.
Microsoft’s shares also declined 2%. Both companies are listed on the Nasdaq exchange.
Industry experts have said the global tech outages appear to stem from an issue with CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that has Microsoft Windows among its clients.
Mass tech outages worldwide have caused IT systems to shut down, sparking delays and issues at European airports as well as affecting other transport links.
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 was working to solve the problems.
Prague Airport said 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.
Air France, the country’s flag carrier, said the global IT issue had disrupted its operations — though flights already in the air are not affected.
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.”
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the government was monitoring technical issues at Frontier Airlines, which had to ground all flights after citing problems involving a Microsoft outage.
“We are monitoring technical issues at Frontier Airlines leading to cancellations and delays across their network. Our department will hold Frontier, and all airlines, to their responsibilities to meet the needs of passengers. Visit http://flightrights.gov to know your rights,” Buttigieg wrote on X.
Earlier on Thursday, Frontier said its systems had been “impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said Frontier asked it to pause the airline’s departures across the US, though that ground stop was lifted later that night.
American Airlines, which had flights grounded earlier Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said it was working to fix the problem as airports and airlines around the world face major disruptions.
“We’re aware of a technology issue with a vendor that is impacting multiple carriers. American is working with the vendor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” it said in a statement on X.
Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Allegiant Airlines also had all flights grounded on Friday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the National Coordination Mechanism has been activated to deal with the ongoing tech outages.
“I understand Australians are concerned about the outage that is unfolding globally and affecting a wide range of services,” the prime minister said on X, adding that “there is no impact to critical infrastructure, government services or Triple-0 services at this stage.”
The NCM brings together different government agencies – state and territory – as well as industry and private sector stakeholders to coordinate a large-scale response to crises, and was first activated in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd also said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index value feed is “experiencing service disruption” and that the company is investigating the matter, according to Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama.
The country’s largest railway operator, KTM Berhad, said its ticketing system and all customer service channels were facing disruptions “due to Crowdstrike Microsoft Windows,” and that it was working to restore services.
What is CrowdStrike? Industry experts have said the global tech disruption appears to stem from an issue with CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that has Microsoft Windows among its clients.
One of CrowdStrike’s main products is CrowdStrike Falcon, a cybersecurity platform used by large corporations and government clients including major global banks, healthcare and energy companies, according to the company.
It has so far not addressed the ongoing outage possibly linked to its software. CNN has reached out to CrowdStrike for comment.
AirAsia said in a post on X that, “Our core reservation and check-in system are impacted by Microsoft’s cloud services outage affecting airlines worldwide.”
Cebu Pacific Air said it was forced to handle all processes manually due to the outage.
Singapore Airlines noted on X that none of its flights have been impacted, but that it is experiencing technical difficulties.
Passengers were then told to deplane while the airline worked to resolve the issue, which has disrupted airlines worldwide, as well as health systems, banks, grocery stores, and media companies.
Weary passengers are now waiting by the gates, Skjerven said, with some adults and children sleeping on the floor. Skjerven said she called a nearby hotel but it was full.
“There’s nothing we can really do at this point but wait,” she said.
© 2016 Cable News Network.